
Glass. 



Book 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



BEAUTY OF FORM 



AND 



GRACE OF VESTURE 



BEAUTY OF FORM 



GRACE OF VESTURE 



BY 



FRANCES MARY STEELE 
i 



AND 



ELIZABETH LIVINGSTON STEELE ADAMS 

/ 



% 



O. 



OCT 7 1892 



m$m&2^ 



NEW YORK 
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 






Copyright, 
By Dodd, Mead and Company. 

/4// rights reserved. 



John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



PREFACE. 



We have chosen to win, if possible, pilgrims 
into the right way by offering ideals, the success- 
ful imitation of which necessarily includes health. 
The evils of conventional dress, the bad condi- 
tions it induces, the diseases it entails, the abnor- 
mal growths it causes, the horrors of surgery and 
dyspepsia, — these have been ably and persistently 
presented by scientific medical practitioners and 
benevolent reformers. 

A small part of the material following, has been 
already published in " Harper's Bazaar." 

Many illustrations from different sources have 
been inserted, with the general purpose of educa- 
ting the eye to the rhythm of beautiful lines and 
forms. 



ERRATA. 



Page 22. — (See Fig. 10) should read (See Fig. 8). 

Page 61. — (Figs. 20 and 22) should read (Figs. 18 and 19). 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter Page 

I. Introductory 9 

II. Hindrances to the Pursuit of Beauty . 30 

III. Plain Words to Plain People .... 37 

IV. True Standards of Beauty 49 

V. Fair Endowments 68 

VI. Muscular Symmetry and Fine Condition 78 

VII. Immediate Helps .......... 93 

VIII. Grace of Design 104 

IX. Art Principles applied to Costume . . 148 

X. Beauty of Material 163 

XI. Beauty of Colour 168 

XII. Accessories 176 

XIII. From Youth to Age 192 

XIV. Models 200 

XV. Hope for the Future 216 



Appendix 223 

Index 229 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Fig Page 

i. Headpiece E. L. S. A 9 

2. Queen Louise . Richter n 

3. Sylvia . Perugini 15 

4. The Hour-glass B. F. Porter .... 18 

5 Fashion . . , Redfern 19 

6. Vases E. L. S. A. . . 20-22 

7. Venus di Milo , 23 

8. Ordinary Types E. L. S. A. . . „ . 25 

9. Diana of Praxiteles ....... 31 

10. Winged Victory of Samothrace ......... 35 

11 Headpiece E. L. S. A yj 

12. Venus di Medici ............... 39 

13. Artemis . '. Thronycroft . , . . 43 

14. Nude Figure from Sacred and 

Profane Love ..... Titian ....... 47 

15. The Three Fates , . . . . Thurmann .... 51 

16. Antinous 55 

17. Apollo Belvidere . . . . . 59 

18. Diagram of a Man E. L. S. A 62 

19. Diagram of a Woman . . , . " . ...» 62 

20. Front Curve ....... " . . » . . 63 

21. Bad Poise . . " 63 

22. Front Curve , " 64 

23. Bad Poise " 64 

24. Woman's Back , Prof. Rimmer . . -. 65 

25. Man's Back ....... , .... 65 



VI 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Fig. 

26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 

3°- 
3^ 
3 2 - 
33> 
34- 
35- 
36. 
37- 
38. 
39- 
40. 
41. 
42. 

43- 
44. 

45- 
46. 

47- 
48. 
49. 

50. 

5 1, 

52. 

53- 
54- 
55- 
56. 

57- 
58. 

59- 
60. 



Seated Figure .- . Selected 

Headpiece E. L. S. A. ... 

The Summer Moon Sir F. Leighton . . 

Sweet Oranges George Seymour . . 

Headpiece . . E. L. S. A. ... 

Costume /. McD. .... 

Miss Polly Kennedy .... Sir Joshua Reynolds 

Headpiece E. L. S. A 

Girl with Muff " .... 

Back of Last Costume ... " . . . . 

Girl with Sheets of Music . " .... 

Velvet Coat . . . . . . . " .... 

Girl beside Lamp-Post ... " .... 

Light Brocade Coat . . „ . " . . . . 

Tea Gown " .... 

Fur-Trimmed Street Gown . " . c . . 

Girl leaning on Guitar ... " . . . . 

Dress with Drapery Sleeves . " . . . . 
Back View of Dress with 

Drapery Sleeves " . „ . . 

Evening Costume with Train " . c . . 

Girl playing Banjo ..... " . . . . 

Evening Costume, silk and lace " . . . . 

Design for House-gown ... " . . . . 

Girl Playing Violin . . t . " . . . , 



Girl Writing 

Dinner Dress 

Back of Dinner Dress . . . 
Three School Girls .... 
Girl by Carved Bench . . . 

Office Gown 

Front of Under Dress . . . 
Back of Under Dress .... 

Travelling Dress 

Travelling Dress with Jacket 
Outing Dress ....... 



Page 

66 



93 
99 
102 
104 
106 
107 
108 
109 
in 
114 

"5 
117 

120 
122 

122 
123 
125 
127 
128 
129 
130 
132 
132 
133 
J 34 
1.35 
136 
136 
137 
139 
140 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Vll 

Fig. Page 

61. Housemaid's Gown E. L. S. A 142 

62. Dress of Thin Woman, bad . . " 144 

63. Thin Woman, better .... " 144 

64. Stout Woman's Dress, bad . . " 145 

65. Stout Woman, better .... " 145 

66. Stout Woman, bad " 146 

67. Stout Woman, better .... " 146 

68. Headpiece " 162 

69. Headpiece. . . . . „ . . " 176 

70. Headpiece . . " 192 

71. Melpomene 195 

72. Old Lady with Young Man . . E. L. S. A 19S 

73. Diagram Greek Dress . . . , " 201 

74. Simple Chiton " 201 

75. Chiton with Sleeve . . . . " 202 

76. Diagram 202 

yy. Empire Dresses Selected 206 

78. Ashes of Roses George H. Boughton . 208 

79. Empire Dress with Fichu . . Selected 210 

80. Underwear, Appendix 224 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



CHAPTER I. 



In a company of cultivated 
people, the question was 
asked : " For what do the ma- 
jority of women most care ? " 
After an animated discussion, 
it was agreed that admiration, 
and consequent love, were the 
objects dearest to a woman's 
heart; that the desire for dis- 
play of natural gifts or acquired possessions was 
only to gain admiration ; that pride of intellect 
was indulged, in the hope to wield influence, — a 
power inseparable from the admiration of fellow- 
beings ; that disinterested souls, who long to do 
good by self-sacrificing devotion, are immediately 
dependent upon the welcome aspect of a gracious 
personality, winning at once admiration, trust, and 




IO BEAUTY OF FORM. 

love. Then some one wound up by saying: 
" Woman's ambition is to be beautiful, for that 
secures inevitably both admiration and love." 
True, because beauty, ideal beauty, presupposes 
the charm of an attractive presence, fine propor- 
tion, perfect physical condition, intelligence, and 
moral excellence. 

If young girls, content with youthfulness, forget 
its brevity and foolishly ignore the means of pre- 
serving its beauty, none are irresponsive to the 
thought of enhancing that charm. No woman 
anywhere but desires to look well in the eyes of 
others ; no one but would be glad to look better 
in the eyes of those she loves, and best in the eyes 
of one who loves her. 

This desire for beauty, being natural and univer- 
sal, must have been put in all wisdom into the 
constitution of a woman's mind. 

It was a blessed doctrine taught in a Friends' 
yearly meeting, ■ — ■ " God meant women to make 
the world beautiful, as much as flowers and birds 
and butterflies." 

An artist said of a friend, "She accomplishes by 
her presence alone, all I try to do with my art. 
A sweet woman is above all works of art." If a 
woman captures the imagination or wins the love 




Fig. 2. — Queen Louise. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 3 

of those around her, she may accomplish what 
she will of blessing. 

It is said that public talking is the most 
influential of modern efforts. But a really beau- 
tiful woman leads and conquers without even 
talking; the rudest person is conscious of her 
power. 

Charm of form, of colour, of soul, are essential 
to our conception of ideal human beauty. A 
reverent spirit, a loving heart, a sound mind, a 
beautiful body, — these are to be desired, pursued, 
won. 

It is true that many saintly souls abide in awk- 
ward forms, and are covered with most distaste- 
ful arrangements of woollen, silk, and cotton; but 
such dwelling-place puts them at a disadvantage. 
In well-proportioned, graceful bodies, becomingly 
clad, their influence for good would be augmented. 
Every one who adds beauty to goodness makes 
goodness doubly dear. 

It would seem to be the duty of the mother of 
children, especially of sons, to dress well and look 
her best. She should be ideally beautiful to them, 
and the farthest remove from dowdiness. A lov- 
ing pride comes readily to the eyes of the son 
who fancies that his mother is the most tastefully 



14 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

gowned, the most delightful to look at, the most 
charming woman in all his world. 

We have all heard of the woman who declared 
that " The sense of being well dressed gives a feel- 
ing of inward tranquillity which religion is power- 
less to bestow." Courage and clothes have so 
much to do with one another. A well-ordered 
dress helps to put one at leisure from one's self. 
The ease of it, the sense of fitness it induces, pre- 
pare the mind for the right attitude of courtesy 
to others. 

Ruskin says : " The splendour and phantasy of 
dress were, in the early days, studied for love of 
their true beauty and honourableness, and became 
one of the main helps to dignity of character and 
courtesy of bearing. Look back to what we have 
been told of the dress of the early Venetians, — 
that it was so invented 'that in clothing them- 
selves with it, they might clothe themselves with 
modesty and honour; ' consider what nobleness 
of expression there is in the dress of any of the 
portrait figures of the great times, — nay, what 
perfect beauty, and more than beauty, there is in 
the folding of the robe round the imagined form of 
the saint or angel ; and then consider whether the 
grace of vesture be indeed a thing to be despised. 




Fig. 3. — Sylvia. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 7 

We cannot despise it if we would ; and in all our 
highest poetry and happiest thought we cling to 
the magnificence which in daily life we disregard." 

The study of. the true beauty of adornment may 
be a perennial source of simple pleasure, a con- 
stant ministration to delight and gratitude. The 
graces of appearance, if consecrated to reverent 
use, are at once lifted above shallow egotism. 

The follies of fashion have so long been held up 
to ridicule that the whole subject of woman's 
dress is overlaid with a measure of contempt. 
When it shall come to be regarded as the out- 
come of character, as a medium for the indication 
of artistic taste, and only a necessary, convenient, 
and charming accessary to highest usefulness, 
then the time devoted to its study will not be 
considered wasted, nor will thoughtful care for it 
be the synonym for frivolity. 

The love of dress, of colour, of choice fabrics, of 
ornament, is evidence of the desire of the human 
mind to realize an ideal of excellence. Ignorance 
and incapacity are answerable when the result is 
unsatisfactory. Women may and ought to make 
charming pictures of themselves. All women try to 
do so, in a more or less fruitless way. The results 
ensuing range from imperfection to hideousness. 



1 8 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

False ideas of structure, false standards of 
beauty, must give way before faithful and rever- 




Fig. 4. 

ent study of physical law and the rules of art. 
The contours of a natural form must take such 
highest place in regard that they shall be imitated 
with most hearty respect and veneration. The 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



l 9 



essential qualities of the physique of a beautiful 
woman must be recognized before there can be 
true grace of vesture. 

No clothing, however rich 
and elegant, can make an 
ill-shapen, weak, distorted 
body look beautiful, or even 
comely. The most artistic 
dress is worse than lost on 
a figure lacking poise, as 
no amount of ornament can 
atone for bad construction. 
But, happily, no dress, how- 
ever poor, can make a well- 
proportioned, healthy body 
look mean or insignificant. 

Admiration of trimness of 
figure and clothing must 
give place to delight in 
really beautiful proportions, 
and apparel fashioned on artistic principles. The 
dressmaker's " lovely figure " must be disapproved, 
rejected, abhorred. 

The eyes of generations of women have so con- 
stantly encountered the delineation of deformity 
(Fig. 5) that the sense of it has usurped the place 




Fig- 5- 



20 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



of that which is natural and symmetrical. Men- 
tal vision is distorted, taste debased. There is no 
parallel to this ignobleness, except in the folly 
and wickedness of the Chinese woman of rank, or 
the savage South Sea Islander. This deliberate 
preference of what is misshapen in physical form 





Fig. 6. 



and bad in art, this inveterate adherence to a false 
choice, in spite of every warning of science, every 
precept of art, even to the surrender of such 
precious gifts as health and beauty, can only be 
accounted for, like other viciousness, as the results 
of a good instinct all gone wrong. 

An artist, thoroughly in harmony with the best 
classic standards, said a few days ago, " I have just 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



21 



seen a fashionably dressed woman, and I admit 
that the lines of her distorted figure, nevertheless, 
pleased me. Now what 
is the matter with me?" 
The rhythm of two 
lines diverging and con- 
verging is most agree- 
able. We are conscious 
of this pleasure when 
we follow the outlines 
of a vase, a newel post, 
or a turret. The con- 
ventional, tailor - made 




Fig. 6. 



figure of to-day has undoubtedly these charms. 
Similar curves in a stout woman may 
give the satisfaction we take in the ro- 
bust bulge of an odd jug, or the squat 
of a quaintly shaped bottle. All this may 
be pleasing or otherwise in baked clay, 
but is out of place in a living woman. 

To carry the idea farther, smooth, 
sheath-like garments may suggest the 
glaze of pottery. They may be beauti- 
ful in colour and texture, at the same time 
that their rigidity is wholly unsuited 



Fig. 6. 



to the undulating movements of human beings. 



22 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 




There is intrinsic elegance in the long lines of 
a costume. In order to secure that elegance, 
the mechanics who illustrate fashion-books, hav- 
ing sacrificed height by 
<y making a long, wasp-like 

O^ ^-O waist, endeavour to atone for 

the blunder by adding un- 
natural length to the lower 
limbs, making their figures 
nine and ten heads high, 
while classic models are 
only seven and one half or 
eight heads high. 
Such proportions are ut- 
terly bad. Truth to nature is an essential quality 
of every work of art. Whatever contradicts na- 
tural structure is unwarrantable, unjustifiable, 
intolerable. 

Fashion periodically proclaims fantastic man- 
dates, and women slavishly accept and conform. 
(See Fig. i^) Have not these a sense of indispu- 
table supremacy? Are they not in the zenith of 
accomplished performance ? Do they not feel 
that they have struggled, and conquered success, 
empty though it be ? In spite of their easy air of 
superiority, are they quite comfortable? We see 



Fig. 6. 




Fig. 7. — Venus of Milo. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



25 



these persons everywhere, till our eyes ache, and we 
enumerate possible compensations for blindness. 




Fig. 8. 

Worse than all, are they not often our dearest 
friends, before whom we summon a martyr's cour- 
age even to hint of natural beauty or classic stand- 
ards? These are they who despise students of 
artistic proportions as cranky dress-reformers. 



26 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

It is only needful to remember the origin of 
fashions, to see how unworthy they are of the con- 
sideration they receive. They are designed in the 
interest of manufacturers who wish to create a 
fresh demand for new goods. The present ade- 
quate supply must in some way be made un- 
popular and useless, that new fabrications may 
be required. 

Judging from their work, the designers of 
fashion-plates (Fig. 5) are utterly ignorant of 
anatomy and art. Being so, why should their 
dictum be heeded upon a subject vital to physi- 
cal beauty? Like pretensions would be resented 
from any other craftsmen. 

There is positively no waist-line in the natural 
body, no horizontal division whatever. There can 
be no beautiful attire till women believe this truth, 
and not until the clothing of the figure, from col- 
lar-bone to foot, is treated as one and indivisible. 
This oneness of effect, this simplicity, is the ele- 
ment of elegance in all classic costumes. 

For many reasons, few women are in such fine 
physical condition that every muscle is compactly 
and perfectly developed. If all possessed the 
beautiful firmness of vigorous flesh, there would 
be little difficulty in clothing the upper torso. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 2/ 

The meanest dress cannot obscure the charm of 
such a form. Flabby muscles are unsightly. Pen- 
dulous breasts are peculiarly distasteful to a 
woman. For the present, at least, the necessity 
of clothing them by the under-garments in a snug 
way, will be readily recognized, not propped up 
from below, by whalebones pushing against the 
soft part of the front of the body, but suspended 
from the shoulders, while all the trunk beneath is 
left loose, free, lissom. This will imitate ideal 
natural conditions and classic models. 

Grace of motion is a finer quality than faultless 
proportions alone. A marble statue may be ex- 
quisite in form, but it cannot be as admirable as a 
living, elastic, spirited woman, capable of the very 
poetry of motion, whose every gesture indicates 
soul. 

A fascinating woman in loose drapery said : " I 
have a bad shape, but I am graceful." To make 
grace possible, every muscle must have free play. 
This ease and freedom must be admired, else there 
can be no wish to possess it. Conventional rigid- 
ity annihilates grace. 

The study of the relations of line and form, 
colour and complexion, opens to the learner delight- 
ful possibilities of enjoyable achievement beyond 



28 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

all comparison with an unreasoning imitation of 
prevailing fashion. The gown that is becoming, 
suitable, and comfortable one season, will be the 
same during another. Once good, always good ; 
once artistic, always artistic. Having discovered 
what forms of clothing best answer one's purpose, 
what colours are most becoming, they may be re- 
peated in different textures continually. It will 
thus be easy to make a summer dress in the win- 
ter, or a winter dress in the summer, at one's 
convenience. 

As the character of the cultivated woman's 
dress becomes more permanent, being fashioned 
after her own needs, and not changed with the 
season, according to some influence outside her- 
self, she will find time to prepare suitable garments 
for many different occasions. As her wardrobe 
enlarges, there will be a sense of ease and satisfac- 
tion with it that will increase as the years pass. 

William Morris, the poet and decorator, says : 
" Resist change for the sake of change ; this is 
the very bane of all the arts. ... If you do not, 
the care of dress becomes a frivolous waste of 
time." 

The Paris correspondent of " Harper's Bazaar " 
has for a score of years described the gradual 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 29 

succession of fashion after fashion, saying that the 
old were not displaced, but existed side by side 
with the new, till it seemed there were now almost 
as many fashions as women to wear them. It is 
not uncommon for milliners to boast that they 
have forty different patterns of hats and bonnets, 
all equally fresh, equally important, equally sturdy 
in claiming attention. 

Many who formerly felt obliged to copy the 
prevailing fashion, lest they should attract un- 
pleasant notice by failing to do so, now are will- 
ing to follow their own ideas, and to consult their 
own special characteristics of face and figure. 
The really conspicuous woman is she who adopts 
the very freshest novelty. 

The gratification of a womanly instinct, ease, 
freedom from self-consciousness, vigour of body 
and mind, grace of motion, beauty of appearance 
and courtesy of bearing, depend in large measure 
upon appropriate and attractive clothing. 



CHAPTER II. 

HINDRANCES TO THE PURSUIT OF BEAUTY. 

HOWEVER desirable a change in ways of think- 
ing or customs of living be recommended, how- 
ever salutary an improvement be proposed, there 
is in human nature an inertia that resents disturb- 
ance from accustomed methods, or removal from 
ordinary grooves. Especially is the substitution 
of one standard for another most difficult to ef- 
fect, even though a higher ideal be presented. It 
is so much easier to be regardless of vitiated air 
and continue to breathe it, of adulterated food and 
continue to consume it, of evil doctrine and con- 
tinue to hear it, of wrong impulse and continue to 
follow it. The bad is facile, the good is difficult. 
But the normal condition of growing souls is strug- 
gle. We cannot consent to give it over. The 
position of woman in all the world of the past has 
made her conservative and timorous. Even to 
move to a higher plane demands from her un- 
wonted courage. It is not strange, then, that in- 




Fig. 9. — Diana of Praxiteles. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 33 

centives toward improvement of physical form 
and vesture meet indifference, distrust, and posi- 
tive objections. A few of the more serious ones 
urged against any change to better dress might 
be frankly answered. 

Are they not trivial, compared with the advan- 
tages they undervalue? 



Love of beauty is not the 

highest motive. 
I hate to be conspicuous. 



There are no artistic dress- 
makers. 
I don't know how. 
I have no taste. 
The effort is too expensive. 



I should look too queer. 



I hate to attract attention. 

I can't sit up without a cor- 
set. 



True, but it helps the high- 
est mission. 

It is not easy to be con- 
spicuously elegant. Noth- 
ing is so glaring as the 
latest novelty. 

Use plain seamstresses till 
demand creates supply. 

It is never too late to learn. 

Cultivate taste. 

It is not as wasteful of vi- 
tality as is conventional 
dress. 

Study to look your best. 
Who can do more? 
None should do less. 

Be noticeably beautiful, and 
thus reward attention. 

You have large muscles. If 
they are weak from dis- 
use, train them. 



34 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

My bust is pendulous. By every healthful means 

attain or simulate ideal 
firmness. 

I am too busy to think You must, you do. Shall 
about clothes. your thought be intelli- 

gent ? 

I am too fat. Reduce and conceal it ; do 

not force it upon public 
notice in a conventional 
gown. 

I am too thin. Learn the contours of an 

ideal form ; possess them 
or counterfeit them. 

I have a bad figure. So much the worse for you. 

Make a good one by ex- 
ercise or art. 

So-and-so can, but I can't. Don't be cowardly. Noth- 
ing is gained without cost. 




Fig. 10. — Winged Victory 



CHAPTER III. 



PLAIN WORDS TO PLAIN PEOPLE. 



Do you say, my plain 
friend, that you have no 
beauty to begin with, and 
never can have?* Do you 
fail to discern in yourself one 
redeeming feature in general 
uncomeliness? Perhaps you 
have not learned to recog- 
nize your own graces. Per- 
haps it has never occurred to 
you that you may or can 
have a beautiful skin, white 
and pure and pearly as a 
rose-leaf, or smooth and fine like ivory, or brown 
and ruddy and rich with sun-kisses. Perhaps you 
do not notice that you have the queenly endow- 
ment of a long, graceful neck, or glorious hair 
gleaming with imprisoned sunshine, or sparkling 
eyes, or melting ones with long lashes, or a deli- 




Fig, ii. 



38 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

cately cut nose, or a sensitive mouth, or an ex- 
quisite ear, or a well poised head, or a finely devel- 
oped torso, or plump, tapering arms, or strong, 
shapely legs, or natural, supple feet. 

If you have any one of these, it is something to 
be thankful for, something to keep in finest condi- 
tion, something whose charm you may enhance. 
While you value the one flower of your being, do 
not rest till you have more to bless your friends. 
The stunted tree with one perfect blossom is so 
far good ; but how much better a wealth of bloom, 
making the whole tree glorious ! 

It is true, you may have any or all of these 
gifts, and not be beautiful. These are details. In 
their absence, you may still make yourself lovely. 
You may have the magnetism of glowing health 
and merry spirits, or a nicety of cleanliness, a 
daintiness of belongings, that shall make you 
sweetness and light to all you meet. 

There is a stateliness of demeanour, a thorough- 
bred repose, a gentle and refined reticence, a 
sweet charm of kindly feeling, a rhythm of caress, 
winning every confidence by its gracious courtesy. 
All these you may seek and possess till you make 
yourself a joy forever. The beauty of expression 
is the very highest beauty of material form. Na- 





■ 1 i ■ 


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m zj m 

1 ,/ '' jBHh 




1 J #1 

■Ml — JfH / J flj 





Fig. 12. — Venus di Medici. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 41 

tive intelligence, high culture, and moral majesty 
transfigure all that is mortal, till comeliness be- 
comes rare attractiveness. One may not have 
well-favoured features, but there may be a radiant 
personality that shall be like the joy of sunlight. 
Love transfuses a homely face with a glow of 
angelic sweetness. 

Choose always and everywhere the best things. 
Let no day pass without seeing and loving some- 
thing beautiful, reading a bit of poetry, or hearing 
good music. One is never shut out from the 
dawn, the sunset, or the stars, nor from the poetry 
of the Bible. People your hours of solitude with 
lovely presences, so refining your features. " So 
many faces show the tide-marks of a worried life." 
Some one says, " Every depressing scene, every 
unreasonable loss of self-control, leaves two 
wrinkles and eight gray hairs." 

If you wish to be inspired with the nobleness of 
beautiful creations, read Ruskin's works. No one 
takes a more reverent view of whatsoever things 
are lovely than he. The precepts of artists are 
the ultimate authority for guidance and appeal. 
Lyman Abbot says, " Beauty is the divine ideal. 
All schools of artists are but spelling it out, and 
every great artist is a flash of God on this dull 



42 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

world of ours." The words of those who have 
given the subject of personal beauty particular 
study are best worth attention. In your efforts to 
make a lovely picture of yourself, you are allied to 
them as fellow-workers. If it is true that the 
highest thing that they can do is to set before us 
the " true image of the presence of a noble human 
being," you are even at an advantage. You have, 
instead of canvas and pigments, the real human 
being which you are striving to make fine. It is 
not possible to conceive a more exquisite object 
than a beautiful woman glowing with happy life. 

Fill your days so full of sunny calm that it will 
be a matter of no moment to you whether or not 
Mrs. Grundy lowers in the distance. Be God's 
angel of brightness and good cheer, and so grow 
lovely. Get the pure gladness in your heart, then 
give it finished expression for others. 

If you have been made on a generous plan, you 
have qualities that littleness can never possess. 
Who with an}' authority has said that slender 
persons are of the best type? Only carry yourself 
well, be reposeful and stately, with a brain that 
sits supremely on the throne of your being, and 
you ma}- come into your kingdom of power and 
love. Do not neglect walking or dancing upon 




Fig- 13. — Artemis. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 45 

occasion. Large people are often singularly light 
upon their feet, and if free as to clothing, may be 
graceful as well as majestic. The surest way to 
please is to forget one's self, and to think only of 
others. 

No beautiful nor worthy thing is ever ours with- 
out careful thought and persistent effort. Inatten- 
tion and indifference never achieved any good 
thing. Whatever may be forgiven to a beauty, 
carelessness and dowdiness are simply ruinous to 
plain people. 

The crowning advantage in trying to beautify 
one's self is that the process involves no one's con- 
sent or approval or co-operation. It is a compact 
between one's own soul and one's mirror. 

If you learn the characteristics of a beautiful 
woman, you will recognize and not despise them 
if they are yours. To do this, one must have a 
measure of health, intelligence, and self-poise. 
Just to mention these qualities is to enumerate 
some of the features of loveliness. 

A sturdy body and the light heart that dwells in 
it will be the best shield against real sorrow when 
it comes. Morbid fancies, disappointed affection, 
and gloomy religious views make little headway 
against well-braced nerves and a brisk circulation. 

Study yourself and determine what lovely traits 



4-6 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

are possible for you, and then possess them by 
intelligent persistence. With God's help, get a 
soul in tune with all that is lovely and of good 
report, make your body vigorous and fine ; then by 
further study learn to clothe that body charmingly. 

Do not be dismayed by mistakes or failures; 
you are striving to make a beautiful picture of 
yourself. Do not expect to succeed with the first 
effort. You would not if you were an artist. Use 
the patience of genius. "In time the mulberry- 
leaf becomes satin." Away from art centres, with 
only canvas and paint and the directions to be 
found in periodicals, with absolutely no helpful 
criticism, hundreds of women are trying to draw 
and paint. They are not deterred by a task so 
difficult. They are bound to win more beauty 
into their lives, and they succeed. Not because 
they paint well, but because in the effort their 
eyes are opened to see new charms in the dullest 
object. Thousands of women who cannot even 
dabble in paint may learn to make pictures of 
themselves, and in time good pictures too; for 
they may train themselves to good proportion, and 
may clothe themselves with due order and grace. 

" At once set about the daily development of 
physical truth and all kinds of beauty in form and 
character." 




Fig. 14. — Nude figure from Titian's Sacred and Profane Love. 



CHAPTER IV. 

TRUE STANDARDS OF BEAUTY. 

If form is " crystallized expression," one can 
only be beautiful by being good. There is no 
greater destroyer of fairness and distinction than 
vice. Pain or injury of any part mars the whole. 

The adage, " Beauty is but skin deep," like 
many another, is untrue. The beauty of the skin 
is evidence of good respiration and a sound bony 
structure ; beauty of countenance means a sweet 
soul ; beauty of form means wholesome activities, 
of labour or beneficence. All these are more than 
surface qualities. 

The pleasure we receive from the appearance 
of human beings is in exact proportion to their 
vital energy, and to their moral and intellectual 
life. No woman can be ideally beautiful without 
the full glow of health, or without such muscular 
development as proves vigorous well being. 

But this is not all. That perfect body should 
be only the instrument for the use of a noble soul. 

4 



50 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

It should express virtue and sweetness. In the 
words of one who more than any other has in- 
fused modern thought with a love of the beautiful : 
" It should be fairest, because purest and thought- 
fullest, trained in all high knowledge, in all court- 
eous art, in dance, in song, in sweet wit, in lofty 
learning, in loftier courage, in loftiest love ; able 
alike to cheer, to enchant, to save the souls of 
men." 

Washington Irving says : " It is the divinity 
within that makes the divinity without." Inward 
grace, then outward beauty. 

Every part of the human body serves as a 
means of expression to the soul. No member 
can be neglected in the attainment of an harmo- 
nious whole. We give, unconsciously, favorable 
or unfavorable impressions by the way we carry 
ourselves. We take the same impressions from 
the unstudied bearing of others. " Our very ges- 
tures, repeated, become attitudes, attitudes crystal- 
lize into bearing, and bearing helps to mould 
character." Character is the one important thing 
in human life, the object of our being here, and 
the culmination of all life's discipline. 

The use of the intellect has a powerful effect 
upon the moulding and chiselling of the features. 







Fig. 15.— The Three Fates. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 53 

removing the marks of sensuality, and replacing 
them by the fineness of a lofty self-control. It 
substitutes the signs of energy and thoughtfulness 
for vacancy and insipidity. It makes the eye 
keen and bright, the mouth sensitive and delicate. 
There is not a virtue which, continually exercised, 
will not leave new fairness upon the features. A 
beautiful body presupposes a healthy body, in 
perfect condition for its use, embracing colour, tex- 
ture, animation, motion, and intelligence. 

Believing there can be no beauty without health, 
and no highest beauty without spiritual, intellect- 
ual and moral excellence, we are confident that 
in trying to attain beauty of form and face and 
clothing, we shall secure other most desirable 
ends. 

When cultivated people refer to standards of 
beauty, they are often met with the expression : 
"It is only a matter of taste." 

"Precisely," as Mr. Finck says: "good taste 
and bad taste." 

Every healthy soul is made to recognize beauty 
in some degree. This instinct, like every other 
endowment, grows sensitive by cultivation, and 
becomes inert by neglect. Rightly used, it di- 
rectly leads to the very highest ends of intellectual 



54 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

and spiritual advancement ; so that, in a way, to 
cultivate taste is to cultivate character, the grand 
outcome of human existence. What we admire, 
shows what we are; what we love, we are likely 
to become. 

One must learn the native qualities of beauty 
of the human form before it can be fully recog- 
nized. A masterpiece of art is more or less un- 
meaning to an uncultivated eye. Half an artist's 
life is spent in learning what to look for, how to 
distinguish the essential, the characteristic, and 
how to eliminate the rest. 

Humanity, blinded by custom and prejudice, 
and thirsting for novelty, ignores real or ideal 
beauty, satisfying itself with fashion, adhering to 
one pleasing form till wearied, then thoughtlessly 
accepting another, only to sigh for still another 
change, and finally to laugh at every past caprice. 

Fashion is not beauty. Fashion is fleeting, — 
beauty is eternal, the same through all the ages, 
its essential qualities never changing. Details 
may vary, and be beautiful or not, according to 
circumstances ; but certain grand principles, cer- 
tain standards, are fixed. These are immutable. 
Good taste is the knowledge of these principles. 

Beauty of the human form is to-day exactly 




Fig. 16. — Antinous. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 57 

what it was in ancient Greece ; it is the same 
through the centuries. The consensus of ages 
is a true verdict, and classic forms become safe 
models. 

We are fortunate in having examples of the 
highest types embodied in enduring marble, that 
there may be no question regarding their essential 
features. They were the thought of Greece on the 
subject of feminine beauty, in the period of the 
highest physical cultivation of the race known to 
history. They must stand for the ideal woman to 
the end of time. We can only sit down before 
them in deep admiration. To their perfection 
our times can add nothing. They are to be 
studied, loved, imitated. 

The statue of the Venus di Milo is a transcen- 
dent embodiment of mature feminine beauty. She 
is peerless. Her grand form is that of a fully 
developed woman standing before us in serene 
majesty. Before her, criticism is dumb. Her 
magnificent womanhood affects us like a strain of 
exquisite music. She is both great and tender. 
The Diana of Praxiteles, and the Winged Victory 
of Samothrace, are other noble forms of Greek 
thought. The world's best art has wrought this 
sculpture to typify perfect womanly proportion. 



58 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

Many other Venuses are very fine, though they 
have the imperfection or self-consciousness, — 
sometimes a shrinking attitude of alarm depriving 
them of nobility. The Venus di Medici is a 
valued example of a lithe figure, nymph-like and 
graceful. Thorwaldsen's Eve, Power's Greek 
Slave, and Thornycroft's Artemis are modern 
reproductions of the same beauty. 

Among pictures, there is the vigorous nude 
figure in Titian's Sacred and Profane Love. Rich- 
ter's Queen Louise of Prussia coming down the 
Stair is charming, and the standing figure in a 
picture by Thurmann, called The Fates, might 
be mentioned. 

The artist Hunt said to his pupils of a standard 
picture, " Hang it in your room, trace it, copy it, 
draw it from memory until you own it as you own 
' Mary had a little lamb.' " The proportions of 
classic models should be studied with the same 
zeal, till their contours can be distinctly remem- 
bered. To learn to see grace, refinement, beauty 
in them, and to learn to disapprove forms unlike 
them, is the first lesson in good taste. 

Appreciating these, one has to make her own 
body as nearly as possible like classic models, by 
exercise, by diet, by every healthful process, or, 




Fig. 17. — Apollo Belvidere. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 6 1 

as a last resort, to simulate corresponding pro- 
portions by every harmless device of art in 
clothing. 

Most persons fancy they admire standard sculp- 
ture ; but it must be in imagination only, else why 
should they allow themselves to exemplify false 
standards of form, and positively distort their own 
precious bodies ? 

Searching for the best examples of the human 
figure, we may discover that manly beauty and 
womanly beauty differ essentially. It is agreed 
that the type of manly proportion includes a com- 
paratively large head, wide and rather square 
shoulders, with a torso tapering to a contracted 
pelvis (Fig. 18). 

On the other hand, for a woman the head 
should be small, the shoulders slightly drooping, 
the torso full, and widest at the hips (see Fig. 19) ; 
while the front line from the breast-bone over the 
abdomen should show first a gentle, and then a 
fuller outward curve. 

The charm of womanly contours is in this sweep 
or long curve from armpit to ankle, which is so 
different from the beauty of a manly figure 
(Figs. \% and ra). The depression at the so- 
called waist-line is only the meeting of two large 



62 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



muscles, and should be more or less ignored in the 
clothing, for the greater beauty of the whole line. 




Fig. 18. 




Fig. 19. 



Likewise, the line bounding the front of the 
body from the chin over the breast-bone and 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



63 



below, is also a long bow made up of gentle out- 
ward curves, softly melting into one another 
(Figs. 20 and 22). There should be no inward 



Fig. 20. 




curves in this front line. Any garment held 
snugly to the back-bone for any considerable 
distance will necessarily press this front line out 
of shape (Figs. 21 and 23). A well-formed body is 
elliptical at the so-called waist-line, and not round. 



64 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



These contours should be so thoroughly under- 
stood as to be always in mind, else a beautiful 
form will not be recognized. The proportions 





Fig. 22. Fig. 23. 

of a beautiful woman are exemplified by the 
diagram in Fig. 19. The dotted lines form sim- 
ple curves, which can easily be carried in the mind 
and prove helpful toward measuring good propor- 
tion at a glance. If this diagram be remembered, 
it will help toward the recognition of essential 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 6$ 

contours, through the drapery of any picture or 
statue of undoubted merit. When clothing is to 
be planned, these boundaries may be helpful in 
the choice of such structural lines as express a 
beauty unseen, but felt. 

The conventional figure of the day is at vari- 
ance with these outlines. Every effort is made 
to imitate masculine 
proportions. The 
shoulders are thrust 
up high and square, 
or made to appear 
so. The back is 
rounded. The torso 
is squeezed to taper _ „. 

^ r Fig. 24. Fig. 25. 

towards the so-called 

waist-line, forcing in the soft parts of the body, 
making an ugly angle at the hips and abdo- 
men, used to support voluminous skirts. Fre- 
quently the shoulders are broader than the hips, 
or seem to be, which is not womanly, but mas- 
culine. A woman's hips should be as broad as 
her shoulders. Figs. 24 and 25 show the manner 
in which Professor Rimmer represents the typical 
difference between the back of a woman and the 
back of a man. 

5 





66 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



The body is still more distorted when the cor- 
seted woman sits. The unyielding cage is forced 
upwards with tremendous pressure, from which 
there is no escape. It is positively painful to see 
such a woman try to rise 
from her chair. 

The soul needs the free- 
est, most elastic environ- 
ment to encourage its fullest 
expression. Every means 
should be employed to fa- 
cilitate that expression, ev- 
ery avenue opened, every 
stiff, inflexible restraint 
removed, every intrusive 
restriction put out of the 
way. 

With the perfection of 
womanly development comes finest physical con- 
ditions, the greatest capacity for the enjoyment 
of healthful play, and the possibility of greatest 
service to mankind. 

Inconstant fashion, playing on every key, once 
in a while strikes a note in harmony with that 
evolution which is steadily bringing women to a 
higher plane of condition and duty. A witty 




Fig. 26. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 67 

rhymester echoes that note in the following 
verses : — 

" The maiden frail and airy, 

She who emulates the fairy, 
Has by Dame Fashion's stern decree become passee of late ; 

Her charms, which once delighted, 

Now are almost wholly slighted : 
In fact, the fragile maiden 's sadly out of date. 

" We used to bow before her ; 

But no longer we adore her, 
Her baby ways and helplessness our hearts cannot beguile ; 

The pale, angelic creature 's 

Lily-white, sun -guarded features 
We do not now appreciate, because they 're out of style. 

" Within the present summer 

We have met a fair new-comer, 
Who does away with helplessness and all that sort of thing, 

Who 's a master hand at rowing, 

Swimming, tennis, fencing, throwing, 
And walks 'most any distance with an easy, pleasant swing. 

" She's graceful, strong, and agile, 

Not the least bit pale and fragile ; 
She does n't faint because her face may catch a shade of tan ; 

She 's neither weak nor stupid, 

But she's just the girl that Cupid 
With honest joy can join for life with any lucky man." 



CHAPTER V. 



FAIR ENDOWMENTS. 



An artist, having determined where upon his 
canvas his figure shall be painted, begins by giving 
the general sweep of the whole, ■ — the line of mo- 
tion, if motion is to be expressed. If the effect of 
the whole is right, he will study the forms of each 
separate part later. He would not think of giving 
his attention first to an eye, modelling it carefully, 
and then filling in the rest of the man about it, 
leaving the composition of line, the action of the 
figure, the atmosphere, the perspective and colour 
scheme to be determined by chance. 

In making a study of personality regard must 
first be had to the expression of the body as 
a whole. School-girls in talking together and 
agreeing they would rather be stylish than have a 
beautiful face, prove that they feel the value of 
the effect of the whole rather than the charm of 
a part. A pretty face is a detail of small conse- 
quence ; a well-set head is somewhat important; 






BEAUTY OF FORM. 69 

but an expressive body includes all that is posi- 
tively essential to a fine appearance. 

Bernhardt and Terry are beautiful, not because 
of their faces, but because each has a graceful, 
sinuous body, free to express the whole gamut of 
emotion. An actress with huge shoulders and 
pinched waist may walk finely and fall well ; but to 
use half her power in a grand situation would be 
almost impossible. 

Grace of carriage is made up of ease, balance, 
and precision; the whole being dominated by one 
emotion, the action of it expressed from head to 
foot. This is an artist's first aim : rhythm through 
the whole. Stiffness and deformity at the centre 
are fatal to the whole trend of his purpose. 

We have seen actresses in a stiff corsage try to 
portray deep grief. They moaned, they wept, and 
finally sank down, with helplessness expressed 
everywhere except in the vital parts of the body, 
the very throne of emotion. We once saw a sub- 
ordinate actress represent an injured wife. She 
entered in high dudgeon, in the stifTest of conven- 
tional gowns, looking like a construction of hinged 
gas-pipe, with a head so large as to suggest idiocy. 
She attempted to sit on a frail gilt chair. Between 
her pull-back dress and her pegs of boots she lost 



JO BEAUTY OF FORM. 

her balance, and fell, like a pole, to the floor. 
The audience roared. She was as pale as death, 
but could not rise, and motioned for help amid 
renewed peals of laughter. The whole effect of 
the climax of the play was likely to be lost but for 
the genius of the star, whose body, trained to flexi- 
bility, expressed her indignation. v She seized the 
chair, and with a rustle and a hiss, lifting it with 
one hand high above her head, she threw it crash, 
bang, into a tea-table set with china at the side. 
Spectators were electrified by the power of the 
woman. They sat with hushed breath while she 
delivered her belated lines with a thrilling effect 
to an audience now completely rapt in attention. 
The clumsy restraint of one actress was disas- 
trous ; the perfect muscular control of the other 
triumphed. 

Great emotions demand deep breathing. All 
artistic representations of such emotion suggest an 
inflated thorax. Fancy an artist with a mind so 
weak as to represent a Joan of Arc under the spell 
of grand visions, planning great actions, with her 
vital organs crowded ! Here lies much of the 
strength of Bastien Le Page's picture of her, with 
her head thrown back, her lungs expanded, even 
her loose bodice carelessly laced, to suggest all 
possible freedom. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. J\ 

A pretty girl dancing or playing tennis in a con- 
ventional dress suggests what a kitten would be, 
encumbered with a piece of metal pipe. One does 
not think so much about the girl as about the 
moving bodice. 

Bernhardt, Terry, Modjeska, Nordica, Mary An- 
derson, and Mrs. Potter refuse to include corsets 
in their wardrobe. If these are not Queens of 
Grace, who are? 

With but few exceptions, all natural forms of 
acknowledged beauty are composed of curves. 
The greater the unity in the curves of the human 
body, the greater is the beauty of the whole. 

The difference between the bust measure of 
classic ideals and the measure of the torso at its 
smallest part is, at most, six and one half inches. 
Paper pattern dictum makes a similar measure- 
ment differ ten inches. Burke says, " Any sud- 
den projection, any sharp angle, is in the highest 
degree contrary to beauty." 

No hour-glass shape dividing a woman nearly 
in half, nor one suggesting the figure eight, is 
ever put into a really fine picture. A slender 
waist is only a beauty when it is part of a form 
which is slender throughout. 

In contradiction to this beauty of the whole we 



72 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

have a " figger," — that is, a certain part of the anat- 
omy enclosed in a French corset, where the bust 
may be worn high or low, in harmony with the 
prevailing fashion. This " figger" divides the 
woman, but fastens the attention of the artisan in 
gowns. Brains and limbs seem to be of no conse- 
quence in the estimate. This was recognized by 
the shocked serving-maid who saw her mistress 
about to leave the house in a jersey waist, fitting 
like wax over her corset. " What, mum," she 
said, " do yees go right out in the street in yer 
figger?" 

The general observer is mainly conscious of this 
" figg er " m the hotel dining-room or ball-room, 
or on the verandah. Eyes are riveted to this 
section of the vital economy, ignoring the pres- 
ence of the remainder. Personal expression is by 
no means high when the physical nature is unduly 
accented, to the detriment of that ensemble of phy- 
sical, moral, and mental endowment which should 
interpret a beautiful woman. 

Some student of classic sculpture has said : " To 
be queenly, one should be five feet five inches in 
height, thirty-one inches in bust measure, twenty- 
six and one half in waist measure, thirty-five 
inches over the hips, eleven and one half over the 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 73 

ball of the arm, six and one half around the wrist, 
while the hands and the feet should not be small." 

W^ile symmetrical proportions of the trunk and 
its graceful carriage are the most impressive of all 
the attributes of a beautiful woman, there are 
others which go to make up ideal completeness. 
Among modern Europeans and Americans it is 
not uncommon to find the relative proportions of 
the limbs corresponding with Greek types ; but the 
head, and especially the face, are now dispropor- 
tionally large. A small head is so far unusual as 
to be remarkable, and is justly considered a great 
beauty. This smallness was so much admired by 
the Greeks that they were tempted to emphasize it 
unduly. 

Gradation of form gives us the same pleasure 
we take in different shades of the same colour. In 
the human frame the gradual tapering of the limbs 
and fingers, the exquisite lines from a woman's 
neck to her shoulders and bosom, are fine 
examples. 

Beautiful limbs are plump, round, and soft, fresh 
in colour and supple in action, the thigh not unduly 
large. 

A beautiful hand is not necessarily small, but is 
in proportion to the body. It should be as long 



74 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

as the face, and have slender, tapering fingers. It 
should be flexible to obey the mandates of the 
brain, and not too small or too limp a thing to be 
capable of any kind of duty. The nails should be 
rosy and smooth. 

The beauty of the feet consists in their neatness 
and shapeliness, not in smallness nor shortness. 
The length of the foot, to be in proper proportion 
to the rest of the body, is the length of the fore- 
arm measured from the point of the wrist to the 
point of the elbow. It should be wide in front. 
To sacrifice its shape, is to lose grace of motion. 
If one would walk well, the toes must be springy, 
especially the great toe, and they should have all 
the freedom that insures their elasticity. Walk- 
ing, running, and dancing improve the feet. The 
absurd notion that smallness and beauty are the 
same, leads to the pinching of the foot till it is 
often a mass of crumpled deformity. 

Any restraint that prevents the free, natural 
exercise of the foot, is just so much injury to the 
whole body. The muscles of the calf of the leg 
become inactive and shrunken, the muscles of the 
thigh, being overworked, are exaggerated in size. 
This is a very common disfigurement Sensible 
harm is done to the brain through impaired health 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 75 

induced by lessened locomotion, the features are 
unconsciously distorted, the gait becomes inele- 
gant. Pegs under the heels destroy the proper 
balance of the body. Every member, every organ, 
has to be readjusted to a new and false position. 

Perhaps there is no more fascinating quality 
than the colouring of human beings. There is no 
texture under heaven so transcendently exquisite 
as healthy human flesh, with its delicate, trans- 
parent covering, revealing the ruddy glow beneath, 
like suffused rose-tints in apple-blossoms. This 
perfect tissue is capable of revealing in the face 
every emotion, from the ashen pallor of fear to 
the rosy flush of delight. This inexpressibly 
charming suffusion, a brilliant complexion, is finer 
than faultless features alone. 

This matchless colouring, like every other charm, 
depends upon perfect conditions of health. The 
colours of vegetables, animals, and birds fade or 
become dull by illness or low condition. A sallow, 
withered skin and dim eyes testify to unwhole- 
someness. Nothing can be ideally beautiful unless 
it is the highest type of its kind, suitable to its 
purpose, in harmony with its surroundings. An 
ideal body must be a healthy body, in perfect 
condition for its use. The colour of it, the texture 



y6 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

of it, the animation, the intelligence, the inspira- 
tion of it, should be perfect, otherwise there is 
more or less of dulness, stupidity, disease. If we 
have a sick body, we should be heartily ashamed 
of it, unless everything possible has been done 
to cure it. 

The mouth is the most significant instrument 
of expression. It is continually moulded by 
thought and sentiment and purpose. Therefore 
it is within the power of the will sensibly to soften 
and refine it. A sweetly modulated voice is a 
most winsome attraction. 

A beautiful ear is about twice as long as it is 
broad ; it is only slightly inclined backward, and 
the lobe is not attached to the head. 

Marks of personal distinction are few. None 
are more definite than the daintiness of perfect 
cleanliness. This is something that careless peo- 
ple can never attain. There is perhaps no endow- 
ment a woman possesses which so amply repays 
loving care and extreme nicety as the hair. It 
rewards frequent brushing by a tender gloss. Its 
neat and tidy arrangement is at once a guarantee 
of careful precision. Fine and abundant hair is 
a splendid possession, whether it be black as the 
raven's wing, " brown in the shadow, and gold in 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 77 

the sun," or of the gorgeous colour that Titian 
loved, the red that has been so often despised by 
its wearers, but which brings with it generally a 
delicious colouring of complexion, and often strong 
mental ability. The hair admirably frames the 
face, increasing or diminishing its apparent size, 
encroaching upon a too ample forehead or ar- 
ranged to throw bewitching shadows upon a full 
low one, greatly helping the expressiveness of the 
eyes, whose beauty of form, sparkle of light, 
brilliancy or tenderness of colour, make them the 
very windows of the soul. 

The delicacy of feebleness particularly appeals 
to one's tenderness ; but the delicacy of sym- 
metrical features, of a well-formed nose, of a sen- 
sitive mouth, and refined lips, of gentle curves and 
graceful motions, at once wins our admiration. 

With all these natural charms given as parts of 
our essential structure, with the ability to retain 
and to increase their excellence, it is not strange 
that some have said : " Man's first duty is the 
cultivation of beauty." 



CHAPTER VI. 



MUSCULAR SYMMETRY AND FINE CONDITION. 



Excellence of physical condi- 
tion is to be attained by training 
every muscle to elasticity 
and vigour. All dormant 
ones are to be cul- 
tivated to uniform 
shapeliness. Un- 
used muscles re- 
turn to an infantile 
state. If muscles 
are too much 
cramped to per- 
form their func- 
tions, they degen- 
erate. The ordinary woman has many muscles so 
torpid that she does not even know of their exis- 
tence. The nerves that supply such muscles 
degenerate correspondingly, making a sensible 
impression on the brain. Their inertness causes 




Fig. 27. 



.BEAUTY OF FORM. 79 

the whole being to lose something of its native 
beauty. 

The ideal way to secure symmetry is to resort 
to a gymnasium with a woman in charge, who 
will prescribe proper general exercise, and such 
as is suited to individual needs. Such opportu- 
nities may be found in our large cities. 

When each muscle is invigorated, and all have 
approached proper proportion, the whole physique 
may be still further beautified by using the move- 
ments enjoined by the Delsarte principles of ex- 
pression, as they are taught by the best masters ; 
that is, taught to give perfect command of the 
whole mechanism of the body, to bring every 
physical endowment in harmony with the mind 
that is to guide it, and not taught merely for the 
purpose of acquiring grace. Grace and elegance 
result necessarily from the proper use of these 
principles, but they should not be sought as ulti- 
mate ends. 

Fine physical development may also be secured 
by the habitual use of health-lifts, rowing ma- 
chines, and other devices, — of course, with in- 
telligence and moderation. The beauty of classic 
models should be sought, and not the distinct 
protuberances of the athlete. Ruskin says: "The 



80 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

least appearance of violence or extravagance or 
want of moderation or restraint is destructive of 
all beauty whatsoever, in anything, — colour, form, 
motion, language, or thought; giving rise to that 
which is in colour called glaring, in form inelegant, 
in motion ungraceful, in thought undisciplined, in 
all unchastened." 

In an ideal condition there is fat enough to 
round all the surfaces to smoothness, no more. 
Excess of fat should be burned away by exercise. 
Every muscular effort consumes a portion of it. 
It can find no place in firm, constantly used, 
healthy muscle. Increased fat is induced by re- 
fusing to use the waist muscles, binding them in 
enervating corsets. Corpulence destroys beauty 
of form and grace of motion. It can be reduced 
by persistent exercise of the muscles of the abdo- 
men and by the use of two instead of three meals 
a day. 

A book has lately appeared which prescribes 
exercises to develop the muscles to uniform health 
and comeliness. Its directions are independent 
of all aparatus, and can be followed in the seclu- 
sion of one's own room. If serviceable appliances, 
agreeable companions, and scientific guides are 
not to be secured, their absence can, in a measure, 







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e 4 


^Bk^wP^B Mil ' 






t ! 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 83 

be supplied by following faithfully the directions 
given by Mr. Edwin Checkley in his " A Natural 
System of Physical Culture." It embodies proper 
cautions, and unfolds a reasonable plan to reduce 
corpulency. Some extracts from this book will 
be found in this chapter. There will also be quo- 
tations from the lectures of Mr. Edmund Russell, 
an artist whose views on personal beauty are par- 
ticularly sound and well expressed. 

One year of good exercise will do more for a 
woman's good looks than all the cosmetics that 
were ever invented. Exercise seems to have an 
immediate effect upon the complexion, if the body 
is not restricted in any degree, and the circulation 
in no wise impeded. 

A woman may keep a finely developed phy- 
sique in good condition by the ordinary duties of 
her life, if those activities are carried on in obe- 
dience to natural laws. But she must stand well 
and breathe properly, if she will realize the best 
physical results from performing useful service. 
Her muscles must be used effectively, without 
waste of energy. Nervous force is to be carefully, 
sparingly, profitably used. Tight clothing irri- 
tates the nerves, increasing self consciousness, and 
consequent awkwardness. 



84 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

The average woman lives in a state of overten- 
sion, her muscles tightened, her nerves strained 
often to no purpose whatever, nothing being 
gained by the expenditure. She makes a battle- 
field of life, when it might be an existence in a 
flower-garden. Worry and apprehension are in 
her atmosphere, instead of tranquillity and repose. 
The result is exhaustion, nervous prostration. It 
is only necessary to " let one's self go," to realize 
with what a wasting grip we are holding fast of — 
nothing. This may be done anywhere with imme- 
diate relief. " Try letting go, it is a great rest." 
Let the arms drop limp at the side, learning to 
carry the hand as far as possible from the head, 
letting also the friction of yesterday fall away from 
memory. Let peace possess you. Allow all 
things to drop out of your mind that trouble or 
excite. 

The first thing to be acquired preparatory to all 
is the knack of lifting the chest into its proper 
position, by the action of the respiratory muscles, 
and holding it as the prominent part of the body. 
Inflate the lungs fully, step in front of a door, let- 
ting the toes touch the wood-work. If at the 
same time the forehead and the chest meet the 
door surface, you are in a good standing attitude. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 85 

In such a position the body acquires its greatest 
ease, its greatest endurance, and its greatest readi- 
ness. The shoulder, hip, and ankle joints are also 
to be on one line. The neck is to be so carried 
as to make the collar-bone horizontal, the head 
poised as if to carry a burden on the crown, and 
the weight of the body resting on the balls of the 
feet, and not on the heels. 

Some women, after a month of lifting the chest 
and holding the body erect, will lose all thought 
of the process, and come into their realm of dig- 
nity and elegance of bearing ; while others may be 
a year, after fully grasping the idea of graceful mo- 
tion, in teaching their muscles to interpret it eas- 
ily and of their own accord. In walking, the face 
and chest should be kept well over the advanced 
foot, lifting the body as it were by the inflation of 
the lungs, so getting a feeling of buoyancy that, 
becoming habitual, will add sensibly to the joyous- 
ness of existence. Place one hand on the chest, 
the other on the abdomen : the first should all the 
time be in advance of the other. 

To learn to breathe properly is the a b c of 
physical perfection. You may add years to your 
life by this simple act. In a proper attitude take 
a long breath till the chest is full, taking care not 



86 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

to strain lungs nor muscles. Hold the breath for 
a few seconds, and then allow it to slowly leave 
the lungs. It is even better to take the air at 
first through one nostril, closing the other with 
the finger, then expel it through the opposite 
nostril. 

Take long breaths as often as you think of it 
At first, this may not be more than once or twice 
in a day; then you will find it easy to remember 
every hour or so ; then oftener and oftener, till 
finally the habit is formed. These breathing ex- 
ercises may be taken when one is occupied with 
nothing else, — when sitting, riding, reclining, or 
waiting. Habitual deep breathing arches the 
muscles of the chest, making it more prominent. 
It also throws back the head and shoulders, com- 
pelling the whole body to become erect. The 
practice of exercising with a light weight upon 
the crown of the head is most conducive to 
uprightness. 

Were a woman the perfection of form and 
colouring, over-feeding, irregular hours, and in- 
dolence would soon mar and finally destroy her 
beauty. 

There have been endless theories as to the best 
food to nourish the tissues of the body and to 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 8? 

keep them in fine condition. Such alimentation 
as secures agility and endurance, implies the finest 
development. 

The ancient Greeks were constant bathers, and 
lived on fruit, cereals, and honey. Greek boat- 
men at the present day are athletic, nimble, grace- 
ful, and merry on black bread and grapes or 
raisins. Algerian porters live on fruit, rice, and 
maize. Arabs, noted for longevity, agility, and 
hardihood, live for months together on dates and 
milk. Moorish porters are hardy and muscular 
on black bread, onions, and grapes. 

A report on the alimentation of agricultural 
labourers, taken in 1872 by order of the English 
Government, which considered the condition of 
that class in Belgium, Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, 
Italy, Holland, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzer- 
land, and Ireland, declares them to be vegeta- 
rians by practice, eating meat only on holidays. 

Official investigations on the subject of military 
rations go to prove that for nutrition and endur- 
ance, flesh foods fall behind cereals. 

From a very careful study of foods in regard to 
their nutritive qualities and relative cost, which 
embodies the results of the most laborious and 
patient investigations that have yet been made, 



55 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

we learn that milk abounds in all the nutrients, 
and is a more nearly perfect food for those with 
whom it agrees than any other animal food 
material, especially if sterilized. 

There is a good chemical reason for the Hindoo's 
practice of eating pulse with rice, for the Irish- 
man's skim-milk and potatoes, for the Scotch- 
man's oatmeal, haddock, and herring, and the New 
Englander's rye and Indian bread, pork and beans, 
and codfish balls. 

For the same price it is possible to provide five 
times as much nutritive matter in vegetable as in 
animal food. 

A beautiful skin denotes, among other things, 
a sound bony system, which is nourished by the 
phosphates of grains. These are sacrificed by the 
ordinary methods of milling. Wheat, deprived 
only of its bran, is believed to contain all that is 
necessary for fine condition. Of late the banana 
has come to be considered as nutritious and as 
rich in gluten, which sustains life longer than 
aught else. 

To give differing views, a prominent physician 
is reported as giving the following rules for 
health : — 

" Eat animal food three times a day [ !], and as 



* , .*■■■■ J 




Fig. 29. — Sweet Oranges. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 9 1 

much bread, crushed wheat, potatoes, rice, eggs, 
etc., as possible. Between the different meals and 
on retiring at night drink a glass of milk, if you 
are thin, or a cup of beef-tea or broth if stout. 
Every night and morning take a warm sponge 
bath with water in which about a tablespoonful 
of common salt to the basin has been dissolved. 
After the bath, and a brisk rub with a coarse 
towel, exercise ten minutes briskly with dumb- 
bells or in any way you enjoy, breathing deeply 
and freely. Sleep nine hours at night, and one in 
the middle of the day, and wear loose clothing." 

Obesity is a disease, to receive special prescrip- 
tion, like any other disease. Dr. Schweninger, 
famous because he reduced Bismarck's weight 
forty pounds, forbids his patients the use of liquids 
till within an hour or so of a meal of solid food ; 
that is, they are not to eat and drink at the same 
time. All authorities agree that fat people should 
avoid starchy foods and sweets, such as bread, 
potatoes, cake, pastry, honey, and sugar. 

It is agreed also that those who are lean should 
nourish themselves with plenty of air and water, 
shunning stimulants, tobacco smoke, coffee, tea, 
and excitement. Oats, wheat, corn, baked ap- 
ples and cream, bananas and nuts are believed 



92 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

to be fattening. Maple sugar and honey are said 
to enrich the complexion. 

It will be necessary only to recall the fact that 
as exercise, and thought even, consumes the tis- 
sues of the body, waste must be promptly removed. 
The skin, largely assisting in that removal, should 
be clean, to facilitate its functions of sensible and 
insensible perspiration. Frequent bathing is not 
only necessary to health and beauty, but it is ex- 
hilarating, adding positively to the sum of human 
joyousness. 

If one is not ideal in form and condition, so 
much the worse. All the more is it necessary to 
attain or approach perfection by strenuous effort 
and untiring industry. If you have the training 
of children, be sure they have beautiful bodies. 
All life's work is easy to the being glowing with 
health and spirits. 

The body can be made vigorous. It can be 
made to approach right proportions. It can be 
made measurably beautiful, and every woman may 
be dressed in a comely way. Let us not dawdle 
over it. Let us do it. 



CHAPTER VII. 



IMMEDIATE HELPS. 




Fig. 30. 



Having learned what an 
ideal body is, that it is to be 
gained and preserved only by 
proper exercise, diet, and bath- 
ing, it remains to consider how 
to put one's self in the way to 
attain it. Healthful underwear 
should be immediately secured. 
The change may be made at 
once if you have at hand garments so combined 
as to be in one piece from neck to foot, hanging 
from the shoulders, without whalebones or bands, 
and loose enough to allow the fullest breathing. 
United and arranged in the plainest way, of the 
most convenient material at hand, their prepara- 
tion will still consume more time than can well be 
spared, for the need is urgent. Not an hour 
should be spent in the faulty garments, if it can be 
avoided. 



94 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

Any garment that leaves pink creases on the 
flesh when it is laid aside at night is too tight to 
allow that perfect freedom that insures grace. 
Any kind of underwear that makes a supple body 
look smooth and woodeny, is displeasing, because 
artificial. A noble thing is made to resemble an 
ignoble one. On the contrary, such looseness and 
flabbiness as suggests hasty-pudding or the rolls 
and folds of fatted swine is extremely distasteful. 
Both the woodeny and roly-poly effects are 
wholly unlike the firm, elastic substance of healthy 
human muscle. 

If the bust is not as perfect as that of a woman 
muscularly trained, it is absolutely necessary at 
least, in our present state of cultivation, or want of 
cultivation, that it should be supported from the 
shoulders solidly, firmly. Each under-garment 
should help, and the upper part of the dress-lining 
or the petticoat should succeed in giving apparent 
fixedness, without in the least compressing the 
trunk just below. 

A good bust-supporter that is light, that de- 
pends from the shoulders, that is perfectly adjus- 
table, that has no horizontal band around the 
body, and is sufficiently elastic, is a most valuable 
adjunct to the underwear of most women desiring 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 95 

to discard corsets. 1 With such a support, and a 
waist similar to a corset cover worn over it, many 
would consider themselves sufficiently clothed as 
to the upper body. Others would wear it over 
one of the knitted vests now so popular. A well- 
fitted sleeveless waist answers a good purpose, if it 
is sufficiently short from the top of the shoulder to 
a point below, that point being in front of the arm 
and back of the bust. There are many manufac- 
tured waists, advertised for their health-preserving 
qualities, that are as pernicious as any corset, 
because their proportions are unnatural, because 
they are stiffened with whalebone, coralline, or 
cord, or because they have unyielding steels in 
front. These are not to be tolerated. 

A waist without whalebones, with equestrian 
tights in silk, woollen, or cotton, having an elastic 
in the top, with or without feet, answers the needs 
of many. A waist or bust supporter worn next 
the skin, and a black silk knitted vest over, with 
black equestriennes for the lower garment, make 
for others a satisfactory scheme of underwear to 
be worn with coloured dresses. Cuts of desirable 
new garments are given in Appendix B. 

If greater warmth is desired, or if the waist is 
1 See Appendix A. 



g6 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

unnecessary, one or more union suits of knitted 
material, 1 with short hose, will clothe the body 
without restraint, and supply every need of warmth 
and protection. These knitted garments in great 
variety of shape, with and without sleeves of dif- 
ferent lengths, and reaching to the knee or ankle, 
are now on the market in silk, woollen, and cotton. 
There are also heavy black woollen equestriennes 
to draw on in severe weather. 

All may be readily ordered by mail. They save 
immensely in time and labour, are very durable, 
and therefore in the long run inexpensive. 

Having made needed changes in underwear, the 
dresses on hand will seem much too tight. If these 
cannot be laid aside, they must be made larger. 

With no restraint from corset, nor band, nor 
dress, the squeezed form gradually expands and 
approaches natural curves. The so-called waist- 
line becomes longer, as it should, to be beautiful, 
the shoulders gradually become less square and 
lower, the exaggerated hips seem smaller, and 
finally become so. 

Proper exercise will develop the unused muscles 
of the waist region to firmness and elasticity. 
Bulky thighs will have a chance to shrink when 
1 See Appendix C. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 97 

high heels are thrown aside. Then, if one learns 
to stand erect and to breathe properly, the way 
has been taken that will eventually lead to come- 
liness and health, if not beauty. 

The colour of the underwear, to be ideal, should 
be the colour of the outer dress. White, of course, 
with white dresses. Dyes have been so improved 
that black knitted underwear is as neat, can be 
kept as fresh, and is far less obtrusive for coloured 
dresses. The average woman has a traditional 
weakness for the dainty trimmings of delicate 
under-garments. They are allied to her sense of 
nicety and her idea of luxury. Let her expend 
that fondness upon pretty night-dresses, if she 
does not prefer to satisfy her taste with more per- 
manent adornment, not to be destroyed by the 
first clumsy laundress. 

When the clothing is made looser, and circula- 
tion is no longer impeded, increased warmth gen- 
erally follows. Though it seems incredible that 
one should be warmer by leaving off some of the 
garments to which she has been accustomed, it is 
constantly found true in practice. The outer 
dress, more or less lined, will complete the cloth- 
ing. The lining is better when it has its inde- 
pendent hem and binding. 

7 



98 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

As it involves considerable outlay to put a silk 
lining in each dress, one heavy skirt petticoat with 
its own waist will answer for many dresses. 

In place of dress-linings, one petticoat of black 
satin with waist, one of some wash silk, not too 
light in weight or colour, with a sufficient number 
for convenient change in muslin, to wear with 
wash-dresses, should be enough for the needs of 
most women, — all, of course, to have waists 
attached. 

Some prefer, instead of the ordinary petticoat, 
one that is divided. Such are closed nearly to the 
knee ; then each half is gathered by an elastic 
band, and is long enough to fall over each leg as 
low as one pleases. 

Others prefer a pair of drawers of silk, or of the 
dress material rather closely fitted, with horizontal 
gathers over the knee to allow bending room. 

The lower part of the figure should suggest the 
structural truth. Drapery that expresses and yet 
conceals natural form is beautiful ; while form con- 
stantly displayed, without reserve, is indelicate. 

Individual fancy is to govern all details. The 
main requisites are loose garments in one piece, 
without whalebones or bands, all suspended from 
the shoulders. Anything hung from the hips, that 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



99 



is snug enough to 
stay there, must be 
too tight for the soft 
body in front, which 




should 
rise and 
fall with every re- 
spiration. Late 
measure me nts 
taken among the 
women of savage 
tribes and semi- 
civilized nations 
prove that wo- 
man naturally 
breathes, as man 
does, with the abdomen. The 
trunk below the breast-bone 
should be sinuous, or it is un- 
graceful. It should be utterly 
free for most varied and complex 



IOO BEAUTY OF FORM. 

motion. Modern custom makes it hard and un- 
yielding as a bronze vase. Even the remotest 
longing for smoothness and hardness must be 
relinquished. 

However fondly a stout woman imagines that 
she looks smaller in a corset, she is most certainly 
mistaken. A corset does not and cannot elimi- 
nate flesh. It simply crowds the fat into another 
place, making the hips larger, the shoulders higher 
and square, and exaggerating all curves till they 
are unpleasantly assertive, if not positively vulgar. 
Besides all this, her stiffness makes her unwieldy, 
and so apparently more bulky. 

In our opinion, there is no excuse for the corset. 
It is not beautiful. It is the wrong thing in the 
wrong place. When one has learned what a 
beautiful body really is, the corset will not be con- 
sidered even, because there is positively nothing 
*to recommend it. Corset-lines are only found in 
caricatures, in ephemeral drawings and other bad 
art, while representations of beautiful human forms 
are the same through all the centuries. A beauti- 
ful animal is largely so because of the graceful 
movements of its lissom trunk. Womanly grace 
is only possible when the torso is capable of 
rhythmic, sinuous motion. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. IOI 

An artist, copying from the statues of the 
Louvre in Paris, was " amazed at what she saw." 
She spent the day among marbles that looked as 
if they would spring back if she thrust her finger 
against them, their rigid surfaces were carved into 
so perfect an imitation of elastic human flesh. 
Leaving these, she met in the street living women 
who looked as hard as stone. 

To let out the present style of dress would spoil 
it. Something finer must take the place of the old 
patterns. It is impossible to wear with approval 
the conventional long waist, when it is made loose 
enough to be healthful. It has lost its essential 
features, and has gained no finer ones. The genius 
of the conventional gown requires that it shall be 
smooth, tight, and trim. It imposes its trimness 
upon the soft membranes beneath. If made of 
inelastic fabrics, it is impossible that they should 
cover without wrinkle anything whose size is 
changeable. The gowns are stretched to smooth- 
ness by whalebones. To be loose and smooth, 
the whalebones must lie from the highest point 
of one curve to the highest point of the next, 
destroying at once all natural beauty of outline. 
The result is a cuirass, in which the body may 
twist itself. This may be comfortable, but it is 



102 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



inexpressibly ugly. For all its looseness, it does 
not permit a graceful movement from shoulder to 
hip. It becomes only a poor copy, a " country 
fit." 




Fi 



g-3- 



The conventional gown is the outcome of the 
labour of thousands of mechanical workers. It 
would be strange if it did not fulfil the aim of so 
much effort. It does realize the acme of smooth- 
ness, tightness, neatness, however inapt. It makes 
available even moderate skill in the production of 
fits, for it is vastly easier to make a smooth cover- 



BEAUTY OF FORM. IO3 

ing to a wooden dummy than to drape a breath- 
ing, elastic woman. That the tailor fit should 
continue to be popular is, of course, directly in 
the interest of those thousands who are, or think 
they are, unable to produce something better. 
There is no other way open for the thoughtful 
woman but to abandon the idea of a skin-tight 
gown. Something must be planned that is flow- 
ing, graceful, and free, something that will hang 
from the shoulders. 



CHAPTER VIII, 



GRACE OF DESIGN. 




It is always to be re- 
membered that folds, with 
their ever-changing shape 
and play of light and 
shadow, are more beauti- 
ful than anything else, ex- 
cept that perfection of 
form which is rarely found, 
1g ' 33 ' and which, if possessed, 

is poetized by drapery. 

Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, in the London " Art 
Journal," says: " The aim of clothing should not 
realize a figure cased in clothes, each portion 
accurately fitted with a case of its own, but a 
draped figure. . . . Modern garb, which is fitted 
by an elaborate system of cutting and piecing and 
joining together, attempts a case rather than a 
dress. Dressmakers map out the human back 
into the most singularly laid out divisions and 



BEAUTY OF FORM. IO5 

lines, those queer seams that spread upward 
toward the arm-holes, essential only if we accept 
the principle that the dress must be of the charac- 
ter of a second skin." 

The first thing to be considered when planning 
a dress, is its material; next, its hue. But the 
greatest need of intelligent thought is felt when 
the form of the dress is to be settled. 

When we are making a selection of such shapes 
as shall be suitable to us, we need not confine 
ourselves to those most familiar; the whole realm 
of beauty is open to our choice. The costumes 
of all ages and all classes may be used as sug- 
gestive patterns. 

Unhappily, too often the problem of arranging 
becoming clothing is to bring into relief a few 
good points and to conceal many deficiencies. 
The woman who frankly acknowledges her infeli- 
cities and recognizes her attractive features will 
best succeed in attaining an agreeable result. A 
long mirror, even if narrow, is almost a necessity. 

A long neck, sloping shoulders, not too wide, 
a flat back, a round chest, ample hips, — these are 
characteristics of a beautiful woman ; hence, any- 
thing that apparently shortens the neck, adds 
width or height to the shoulders, roundness to 



o6 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



the back, or flatness to the chest, should not be 
included in the dress plan. 

If the throat is too long for good proportion, 
shoulder puffs, if they do 
not add breadth, may 
unite with other devices 
to conceal the infelicity. 
But generally it is a sen- 
sible subtraction from 
the sum of beauty when 
the shoulder-line, melting 
into the arm, is hidden 
by gathers that stand 
above it, especially as 
they usually add a 
masculine width to the 
shoulders. 

If the body is too long 

for the legs, setting the 

so-called waist-line high 

will do something to 

correct the dispropor- 

95 \ tion. If the legs 

are too long for the 




***&afc;.4 



Fig. 34- 



body, the lines of the upper part of the dress 
should be so arranged as to conceal the high 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



I07 



hips, and to suggest that they are in a lower 

place. If the woman is dumpy, she will best 

adopt such forms as give unbroken lines from 

shoulder to foot. A yoke will cut off, apparently, 

from height as much as its 

depth; so will a turn-over 

collar behind ; so also a 

border on the bottom of the 

skirt. To get the longest 

lines, one must plan to have 

them start from the point 

where the neck meets the 

shoulder. 

According to the classic 
ideal, the dress from the 
shoulders to the heels was 
one. The waist was formed 
by confining it by a string, 
which in no way interfered 
with the general sweep of 
the drapery or the oneness 
of the whole effect. As there is no horizontal 
division in the natural body, it is best to have 
none in the outer dress. 

The old pattern of a morning gown that for 
fifty years has been worn, for a time with a quilted 




Fig- 35- 



io8 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



trimming down the front, is still pleasing, and 
always will be, because of its unbroken front, — 
unbroken, except by cord and tassels. 

Some one asks, " Is not the Mother Hubbard 
gown good for its oneness and simplicity?" Per- 
haps so ; but its drapery 
seems to be a curtain hung 
from a ruffle at the bottom 
of the yoke, and though 
apparently shortening the 
wearer by so much, it is 
still too long for free move- 
ment, especially stooping. 
Without a girdle, it suggests 
barrel-like bulk. One sees 
it on a sultry day with 
erratic undergear, untidy 
surroundings, and general 
discomfort. Its good quali- 
ties are overburdened by 
unpleasant association. 
If a horizontal line in the dress is unavoidable, 
let the belt be placed high. First, because the 
upper ribs are firm. So far, snugness can hardly 
be harmful. It is the lower, connected ribs, which 
are partly cartilage, that often are made to lap 




Hr&^x*. 



Fig. 36. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



109 



over upon the breast-bone, to the destruction of 
every line of beauty and every hope of grace. 
Another reason for a high so-called waist-line is in 




Fig. 37- 

the fact that it makes the lower limbs seem longer, 
adding distinction to most figures. Still another 
is that it allows the fulness of the skirt to clothe 
and conceal the soft part of the body, which needs 
the utmost freedom for grace of carriage. 



IIO BEAUTY OF FORM. 

One can count but few exceptions to the rule 
that the best artists, when not trammelled by his- 
toric congruity, place or suggest a horizontal line, 
when they make any, just under the bust, where 
in Greek statues we find a girdle. 

In one notable picture by Edward Burne Jones, 
called "The Golden Stairs,"-— a work undertaken 
for the very purpose of presenting the artist's 
conception of harmony of line and colour, — the 
eleven figures painted at full length have all a 
high girdle given or suggested. 

If a woman believes she can realize her sense of 
beauty by putting a fabric over her upper body 
without folds and gathers, let the length of her so- 
called waist be such as will allow her to sit down 
without a horizontal wrinkle forming itself in the 
easy fit. Short women will gain an apparent 
height by avoiding a break in the mass of colour or 
a level line in the whole structure. It is better to 
have a belt only in the lining, should there be one. 

The question of a short or long so-called waist 
engrosses much attention. It is often agreeable to 
see the curve of the spine outlined. Only a slen- 
der woman, in our opinion, should adopt the prin- 
cess form dress, which is at its best unlined and 
loose enough to fold and wrinkle horizontally 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



Ill 



when seated. But a long waist behind, if snug, 
continued all around, encroaches upon the soft 
part of the body in front, making it appear stiff and 




Fig- 38. 

altogether inappropriate, since it will not and 
ought not to stay down in place smoothly without 
inadmissible whalebones. If the front of the body 
is treated to a short waist, and the back to a long 
one, in the same garment, the incongruity is felt 
when the woman is seen in profile. In our opin- 



112 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

ion, it is better to sacrifice the beauty of the back, 
or to use two garments instead, — the under one 
short in front, the outer one long in the back and 
open in front. 

If a separation between the upper and lower 
parts of the costume is desirable, as it may be, 
the skirt should appear to continue up under 
the upper garment, as if supported from the shoul- 
ders. In other words, the upper part should be 
a jacket. 

If a woman is round-shouldered, the bulk of a 
tied sash with bows and ends will help to conceal 
the defect. This need not appear too youthful. 

If the hips and lower back are meagre, a soft 
sash wound once or twice around will add fulness, 
or successive ruffles of crinoline may be worn un- 
derneath. A little independence and good sense 
will suggest numberless mitigations of minor 
defects that are incurable. 

In this connection we are reminded of the good 
qualities of the Marie Antoinette fichu, which, sep- 
arate from the dress, covers the shoulders, hides 
the arm-hole seam, and imitates the good qualities 
of a shawl. It may have long ends that lap over 
in front, lie under the arms, and tie behind with the 
grace of a sash. With a box plaited or other full 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 113 

trimming around every part, it will add fulness and 
breadth to the figure. (See Fig. 33.) 

It should be said of these illustrations that they 
do not pretend to reveal mechanical construction, 
but are sketchy suggestions to the student in search 
of right lines for study. 

The coat-like form illustrated in Fig. 34 is good 
for its oneness of effect. It is an admirable design 
for a woman of fine proportions. The crossing 
of the coat in front, and the shape of the collar, 
give great elegance of line. It is also useful for 
those who desire to conceal too much flesh till 
it can be reduced by persistent exercise. We 
know no form quite so happy for one who would 
hide a faulty contour from armpit over hips. Its 
good features are not to be ignored by the woman 
who is thin and of medium height (Figs. 34 and 
35). Being loose fitting, it will give her apparent 
breadth. Even short, thin women find it becoming. 
Well worn, it is full of dignity. It admits of great 
variety of effect, while the general form is retained. 
It is particularly appropriate for a street garment, 
suggesting a wrap without its extra warmth; it 
affords long lines back and front. A flaring col- 
lar, not too high, will add to apparent height 
behind, but its form must not eliminate the neck. 

8 



H4 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



In order to carry its lines unbroken to the head, 
two deep pleats may be laid on each side of the 
seam in the middle of the back. All surplus ma- 
terial is to be cut away 
from the inside, above 
the so-called waist-line, 
after the pleats are 
stitched in place. Below, 
being only pressed, they 
open and close with mo- 
tion. No side forms 
are to be used, of 
course. The coat has 
a lining as low as just 
under the breast, and 
includes the 
darts that fit it. 
The skirt of the 
dress has its 
independent 
waist. 
One secret in 
the good construction of this pattern is, that no 
attempt should be made to fit it in to the figure 
under the arms. From a point on the hips where 
it is loose enough to prevent a wrinkle forming 




Fig- 39- 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



"5 



either in front or behind, to a point directly under 
the arm, the seam should be in a straight line, or 
nearly so. Taking it in will make it draw. 




Fig. 40. 

The pleats behind are desirable for full figures, 
but may be omitted, and long lines secured by 
arranging two borders from the neck down, sepa- 
rating at the so-called waist-line, and following the 
vertical edges of the coat; the same or a wider 
border being upon the sides of the front and 



Il6 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

around the neck. Such trimming as is irregular 
on both edges, or having deep points upon one 
edge, is agreeable, as the points part in radiating 
lines over the shoulders. Thin silk or satin is a 
pretty addition as a lining. This variety has no 
standing collar. It may have a vest of the mate- 
rial of the skirt, that the colour may be unbroken 
to the neck even by buttons (Fig. 39). Pointed 
pieces joining at the points, or cords, may fasten 
it in place of a vest in many different ways. This 
is a good pattern for a house dress, when the coat 
may be sleeveless (Fig. 40). It is better when the 
two garments of the costume differ in texture. It 
is good if the coat is made of cloth, camilette, 
brocade, bedford cord, velvet, velveteen, or pique. 
Wholly made of calico, muslin, or crape, it will be 
disappointing. This design is admirable if admi- 
rably managed. The ordinary dressmaker can 
hardly forget the traditions of her trade long 
enough to prevent her spoiling the whole thing; 
a plain seamstress who has no professional pride 
will often help towards better success. 

Fig. 41 is a model of a costume in dark-green 
cloth trimmed with black astrachan. Sleeves that 
are moderately full are in keeping with this group 
of designs. There may be two pair, — close sleeves 







Fig. 41. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 119 

upon the under dress, and slightly flowing ones 
upon the coat. Sleeves of a lighter tint will appar- 
ently still further diminish the width of the person ; 
sleeves of a darker tint make the torso appear 
larger. But sudden contrasts of tone should be 
avoided. In studying the court-dresses of past 
times, one cannot fail to remark the agreeable 
effect of sleeves in a different material and of dif- 
fering shape. Like other charming features, this 
one has its foundation in truth, for the garments of 
the Middle Ages were worn one over another, and 
of the same general form. 

One may take advantage of this hint of beauty 
to secure most comfortable house gowns for warm 
weather. Night-dresses made after the directions 
given below are quite presentable. The yoke 
lining is made deep enough to include the darts 
that fit the bust. The embroidered yoke is set 
upon this on the outside. Added to the front 
fulness is the straight edge of a gore which is 
eleven inches at the bottom and two at the top. 
The back has one half more material between the 
gores than the front. The gathers of the front 
occupy the middle quarter of the yoke; the 
pleats of the back, the middle half of the yoke. 
The bias edges of the gore meet each end of the 



120 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 




Fig. 42. 



yoke in the back. Over 
such gowns may be 
worn coloured silk or 
muslin wrappers, having 
sleeves a trifle shorter 
and a low flaring collar 
to support the ruffle 
about the neck of the 
night-dress. Or, the 
wrapper may be cut low 
and square behind, and 
still lower and square 
in front. A ribbon 
under the back, com- 
fk ing through to the 
outside either 
under the arms 
or in front of 
them, will 
supply the 
welcome 
girdle. It 
is far bet- 
ter to use 



two genuine garments than to patch upon one that 
it may appear like two. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 121 

Figure 42, of a woman leaning on a guitar, pre- 
sents a gown for a woman of ideal form. The 
edges of the upper dress are bound. Fulness is 
inserted in the middle of back of skirt. The 
sleeves are of different texture and tone, are un- 
lined, and fall in folds down the arm. 

Beauty of form is destroyed when fat accumu- 
lates. Frankly acknowledging that the over-fat 
woman has lost much possible advantage, let us 
consider what is left to her. 

If to stoutness is added glowing health, magne- 
tism, and warmth of nature, there will be a charm 
of added flesh-tints, fine neck and arms, and 
abundant hair. These features should be made 
prominent in the general effect. If lacking in 
grace of form, one must rely more upon charm of 
colour in fabrics. The woman of too ample dimen- 
sions should manage to give herself room enough 
to insure easy motion, so that to bulk she does not 
add inertia. She should wear textures in harmony 
with her size, — heavy, soft stuffs that take large 
folds suggestive of dignity and repose, concealing 
her contours, and appearing themselves to be the 
cause of her massiveness. She may comfort her- 
self by wearing cloaks that are not in any way 
stiff. She should avoid fitted fur garments. 



122 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



A deep box pleat, well pressed, and so hung 
that it cannot push outward, is a good device for 
the front of the gown of a stout woman, as it adds 
more perpendicular lines and apparent flatness. 





Fig- 43- 



Fig. 44. 



Figures 43 and 44 offer a graceful sleeve drapery 
which a very large woman may wear with very 
happy effect. It is to be of the colour of the dress, 
but of some clinging material, — soft silk, crape, or 
lace. It is fastened to the gown over the shoulder 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



123 



and part way down both back and front. It is 
short on top of the arm, and weighted under 




Fig- 45- 



the tassels for greater convenience. It may be 
a comely arrangement for out-door wear. This 



124 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

pattern may be becoming to the very tall, thin 
woman. 

Figure 45 is an evening dress suitable for a 
woman of majestic proportions. The very low 
neck and elbow sleeves are essential features. The 
neck may of course be filled in with some deco- 
rative material. Here is a fine opportunity for a 
jewelled yoke. The rain of jewels below the 
girdle would be in keeping. This design is for 
sumptuous materials, brocades, beaded fabrics, or 
velvets. Thin fabrics are inappropriate to the ex- 
pression of such a woman. The graceful and sim- 
ple train at the back adds nothing to her size, 
while it gives a comforting sense of sufficient 
drapery. The fulness of it is grouped on each 
shoulder, leaving a plain place in the middle. This 
design would be ruined if made of cheap stuff with 
high neck and long sleeves. 

Figure 46 would serve a stout woman of medium 
height. The waist of the skirt is low necked and 
buttoned behind. The jacket has a seam under 
the arm and two seams behind, running up to the 
shoulder, like the back of the outing costume. 
The fronts are tied with a ribbon, and flare open 
below the tying. The deep ruffled collar and cuffs 
are semi-transparent. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



127 




Fig. 47- 

Illustration 47 is an evening costume of lace 
and heavy silk, suitable to a woman of imposing 
proportions. 

Figure 48 is of the back and front of a gown 



128 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



that will be becoming to most women. The front 
coat-like pieces may be joined at the shoulder and 
side seams, the back being made all in one piece, 
the pleats being massed in the middle seam. 





Fig. 48. 

Tall, thin women need not despair of approach- 
ing, or seeming to approach, right proportion. 
They have height, — a point of elegance ; they may 
have willowy grace, and claim distinction by right 
of type. They are to seek such material in abun- 
dance as shall secure to them roundness and 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



129 



breadth. Horizontal lines and fluffiness are to be 
chosen. All points, angles, and straight lines are 




Fig. 49. 

to be avoided. Fichus, fluttering draperies, and 
flounces will be becoming. Short outer garments, 
if not too short ; successive capes, if of soft mate- 
rial ; ruches ; flaring collars that are broad from 

9 



30 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



ear to ear ; horizontal trimmings, — all are desirable. 
Wide and flat hats are good. The Valois sleeve, 
which is a succession of puffs down the arm, will 
add fulness, elaboration, and more level lines. 




Fig. 50- 

The under-part of such costumes should be firm, 
with fluffy stuffs above. Lace ruffles are good. 
Fur edgings, ruffs for the neck, square-necked 
dresses, or trimming in their shape, will add ap- 
parent size ; necklaces of the colour of the skin, to 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 131 

hide leanness; sleeves full but soft, and trimmings 
massed, but not to interfere with the essential lines 
of the figure. 

Angular, thin women never look so well as 
when elaborately gowned. If such a one will 
wear materials that are light, that with every 
movement multiply lines, she will find her own 
sharper ones obliterated, and her size made 
apparently important. 

The figure of a girl with a violin (Fig. 49) has 
soft, full undersleeves and angel sleeves besides. 
They add width behind. The neck, square cut, 
is wide and shallow. Her vest and jacket add 
horizontal lines, and a border might be added to 
her skirt. This design will be favourable to a thin 
woman. 

There are gathers at the shoulder and in front 
of Fig. 50, which would add desirable fulness to a 
slender person. Thin arms may have large, loose 
sleeves, or be padded in smaller ones ; or both, if 
the outer sleeve is transparent. 

The design illustrated in Figs. 51 and 52 will 
be appropriate for slender women of medium 
height, or for those who are slender and short. 
It gives an appearance of breadth, and adds to 
apparent height. 



132 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 




Fig. 51. 



Fig. 52. 



Small, delicate women may wear light-coloured 
fabrics, very beautiful in themselves, with but little 
trimming, and that choice. The light colour 
demands notice, the dainty ornament rewards it. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



133 



Or, they may have no end of puffs, ruffles, and 
ruches of fine material, all in one hue. 

Some artistic dresses are suggested in Illustra- 
tion 53 for school-girls. 




Fig- 53- 

The design in Fig. 54 is to be in two colours, the 
lighter one appearing in the skirt, tops of sleeves, 
and lining of collar. The lower part of the sleeves 
may be solidly embroidered, in keeping with the 
ornament down the front. This costume, in com- 



134 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



mon with others, has the great advantage of the 
play of one fabric upon another, compensating in 
part for the absence of the voluminous folds of an- 
cient drapery. This gown will be becoming to a 




Fii 



54- 



short woman who is too .slight, as there is no ap- 
proach to close fitting. It will be admirable for a 
woman of fine proportions. The over-tall woman 
will choose a greater number of horizontal lines. 
The back may be like Fig. 52. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



135 



Figure 55 is a design that should be convenient, 
and may be beautiful for any active worker at 




Fig. 55- 

home or abroad. The back of the under-garment 
(Fig- 57) may be plain above the high so-called 
waist-line, or the necessary pleats of the skirt may 
be carried up to the neck. Such adjustment as is 



136 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



necessary for a half-fitting garment may be made 
in the front (Fig. 56), seams running up to the 
shoulder ; or if needed to add to size, the fulness 
may be gathered in the front of the neck-binding, 





appearing under the outer lacing like a Fedora 
vest. There may be a lining in this garment like a 
deep yoke snugly fitting over the bust. The over- 
garment is also half-fitting (Fig. 55), and more or 
less adjustable by the lacings in front and behind. 
The edges of the garment may be bound with 
silk braid, or other material, or in shallow scallops 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



137 



with cord loops at the intersections to hold the 
lacing, or finished in various decorative ways. 
This costume should be in substantial goods, or 
in two textures of the same colour, cloth or hen- 
rietta, with alpaca underneath, with such edging 
as is unobtrusive and durable. 
With a straw hat for shade in 
summer, a warm bonnet and 
cloak for winter, and a water- 
proof for rainy weather, it 
might equip many a busy 
woman. An elastic ribbon 
worn about the hips should 
suffice to raise it above wet 
sidewalks. It is appropriate, 
healthful, admits grace of mo- 
tion, and may be beautiful in 
becoming colours and more or 
less expensive materials. 

This design is simple and 
practical enough to be manufactured by the mil- 
lion, and pretty enough to be welcome at every 
turn. The inevitable result would be, however, 
that it would lose the grace of personality. It 
would surely be put upon the market in flimsy 
stuffs, decorated with incongruous colours, harsh 
contrasts, and crude ornament. 




Fig- 5§- 



138 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

This design is not put forward to brave the am- 
bushed criticism of " a business suit for women," 
that, however desired, is undesirable. Such, called 
for never so loudly, would not be accepted, though 
it were exquisite in design. Our women are indi- 
vidual, greater and better than the garb that de- 
clares any calling. They will never sink them- 
selves in any class ; they would not be true Ameri- 
cans if they did. No. Let every separate woman 
who recognizes the inherent beauty of this form of 
gown adapt its colour, its texture, its finish to her 
own needs, conditions, and personal characteristics, 
while she preserves its essential features, its intrin- 
sic grace of line. If the type be accepted, let its 
variations be as diverse and as charming as in 
families of flowers of the same general group. 

Figures 58 and 59 are of a design that will at 
once commend itself to those who travel. It con- 
sists of a blouse, or waist of wash silk, to the band 
of which is attached a skirt of woollen material 
or of heavier silk. The skirt hangs from buttons 
set close enough together to make an ornamental 
trimming with the cord which forms the button- 
holes. The cord, which should be large enough 
to be decorative, may be continuous from button- 
hole to button-hole, even forming a circle, or 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



139 



group of three circles, like a trefoil, toward the 
lower edge of the belt before it returns again 
toward the upper edge to enclose the next button. 
The cord must, of course, be so fastened to the 
skirt-belt that only the top curve shall form the 
button-hole. This arrangement supplies decora- 
tion in the place where a girdle 
is so fine an accessory, uniting 
both parts of the costume, and 
adding to the ornament one es- 
sential element of beauty, — use- 
fulness. The jacket should be 
made without side forms in the 
back. It may be open at the 
side-seams and at the middle 
back-seam to the so-called waist- 
line. Its lower edge should 
have no trimming whatever, that 
the unity of the colour mass from 
head to foot may not be broken. 
The more complete the apparent 
union of the jacket and skirt seems to be, the more 
becoming the design will be for a short woman. 

There will be no noticeable discordance in the 
adoption of a costume suited to all active em- 
ployments. There are already gymnastic, tennis, 




140 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



mountain, bicycling, and bathing suits. They 
make inviting tramps afield, mountain climbing, 




Fig. 60. 



sporting in the waves and on the lawn, and more 
than all, scientific physical culture. They will 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 141 

« 

go far to prove to our young girls the practica- 
bility and the desirableness of such apparel as 
shall be beautiful in its fitness to personality. 

The outing costume (Fig. 60), for seaside and 
mountain, is suggestive of most enviable comfort. 
Its collar-band, while not too tight for the free 
motion of the head and neck, still protects from 
the sun. The jacket seams carry the eye to the 
shoulder, restoring the length apparently shortened 
by other horizontal lines. The kilted skirt is 
hung upon a waist, and falls just below the knees, 
not only because of greater convenience, but 
because a length that displays the well-developed 
calf of the leg is more beautiful than one ending 
at any point below till the ankle is reached. 
When the skirt is somewhat longer, it shows, not 
so agreeably, two cylindrical pegs more or less 
large. There is great charm in the action of the 
feet and legs, as there is in the graceful move- 
ment of arms and hands. The woman who has 
ill-shapen, awkward legs may improve their shape 
by exercise, may learn to use them well, may still 
be hampered by long skirts, or she may stay at 
home. 

The kilted skirt is without lining, and must be 
well pressed. A striped skirt might take its 



142 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 




Fig6i. 

place, — hung on a waist, of course. No sort of 
border is admissible. The fulness of a divided 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 43 

underskirt falls over to meet the leggings made 
of the dress material. Long gaiters give the feel- 
ing of being fully clothed. 

The underskirt might be of the same material, 
and one would be inclined to omit the outer one. 
What harm would come of it? 

Ada Rehan as Rosalind in " As You Like It " 
was most fascinating. The colours of one dress 
were tan, and pale coffee-colour, with a dull red 
cloak made of linen plush. 

Happily, young girls and women are now 
accorded a generous liberty in pursuing out-door 
sports. 

Illustration 6 1 is of a working dress for the 
home. Its use will lessen the fatigue of mounting 
stairs, will lighten the burden of labour, and will 
be convenient. It is simply made, easily laun- 
dered, and forms a picturesque costume. It has 
a yoke and gathers continuous to the bottom. 
The outer bodice, of velveteen or other firm, dark 
material, is snugly fitted to the lower line of the 
bust, confining the fulness to an appropriate and 
healthful line. It laces in front, and holds orna- 
mental buttons from which to hang the apron. 

Illustration 62 shows how a thin woman often 
appears, and how she might be improved, Fig. 63. 



144 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



Illustration 66 shows what conventional dress 
may accomplish for a stout woman ; and the figure 
beside her (Fig. 67) shows one form of artistic 
betterment. 





Fig. 62. 



Fig- 63. 



The woman in Fig. 66 has gained the pleasure 
of being like everybody else, — equally fashion- 
able, equally stiff, equally uncomfortable. She 
has lost repose, balance, ease, — the three elements 
of grace. She has lost self-poise, unconsciousness, 
and the freedom of her hands and arms. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



145 



The woman in Fig. 6j, who aims at ideal form, 
has the satisfaction of doing the best she can. 
She has proved the courage of her convictions, 
consequently she has gained repose of mind and 




Fig. 64. Fig. 65. 

manner. She has freedom and ease, therefore 
more or less of grace. She has only lost the 
reputation of being in the mode. 

Those who have had the privilege of a consid- 
erable sojourn in Japan, return with a most re- 



146 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



spectful opinion of Japanese girls and women, 
finding their dress graceful, charming, and elegant, 
and disliking only their arrangement of the hair. 
No lover of art but rejoices at their rumoured 




Fig. 66. 



Fig. 6 7 . 



so. 



rejection of French fashions, nor is there one who 
does* not deplore the coming of the time when 
the influence of so-called civilized nations shall 
modify the originality and picturesqueness of their 
national costume. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 147 

In any search for beauty, changeable conditions 
and differing personalities must be regarded, to 
recognize or to secure appropriateness. When 
one has entered upon the study of the relations 
of line and form, colour and complexion, texture 
and occasion, it will be easily recognized that no 
absolute rules, no directions for indiscriminate 
adoption, can be given. All suggestions of help 
must necessarily be hampered by exceptions and 
conditions. One student wrote : " My first suc- 
cess has been so much admired and imitated that 
I realize how much harm can be done, if only a 
little talking is left to influence others. It is so 
difficult to make one's friends appreciate the fact 
that each person needs a different treatment." 



CHAPTER IX. 

ART PRINCIPLES APPLIED TO COSTUME. 

A PROBLEM of such complex elements as the 
designing of beautiful clothing, suitable to the 
aspect and condition of widely differing personali- 
ties, will admit of no off-hand solution. The most 
that one can do for another, at least at present, is 
to point out certain principles of art governing 
good costume, to suggest the right directions for 
thought and study, and to indicate right ideals. 
For each woman has to learn for herself what will 
make her own body better in proportion and finer 
in grace, what will enhance her beauty, and what 
will express her individuality. 

The relations of form and line, colour and com- 
plexion, texture and occasion, are recognized by 
the artist as if by instinct; others have a vague 
sense of harmony, or the want of it; but most peo- 
ple acquire sensitiveness to beauty by patient culti- 
vation of taste. This demands intelligent thought 
and discriminating attention; but it does not in- 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 149 

volve the interminable chatter held now with dress- 
makers, nor a constant search for novelties, nor a 
tantalizing sense of obligation to improve an op- 
portunity for observing and appropriating the very 
latest fashion. The only way to attain the knowl- 
edge that shall make dress a beautiful thing, is by 
a reverent study of art principles, and of such good 
models as the past may have left us. 

Dress is a decoration. The very first law of 
decorative art is, that adornment shall beautify 
something greater, and be itself forever subordi- 
nate. This law at once relegates attire to its proper 
place among the interests of life. It is secondary, 
inferior, important only as it is necessary, and 
adorns a precious human being, which is always 
to be held pre-eminent. Nothing that calls atten- 
tion to a woman's dress rather than to herself 
should be tolerated. The costume should never 
supersede its wearer, as no decoration should assert 
itself above the thing decorated. The dress should 
be so complete an expression of the woman who 
wears it, that she will be unconscious of it. Think- 
ing about it should come before the dress is 
made. 

Another principle regulating decoration is that 
ornament should never interfere with or obscure 



ISO BEAUTY OF FORM. 

the construction of the thing decorated. In pre- 
paring a costume, colour aside, one should seek to 
preserve the essential lines of the figure. The 
gown should be treated as a whole, to recognize 
the unity of the frame. Here the diagram drawn 
in dotted lines upon the ideal figure may be of use. 
Though it is imaginary, it may point to the adop- 
tion of such lines in the costume as, following its 
curves, will emphasize the natural type. An arm- 
hole that is high on the shoulder and inclined 
towards the neck will help to accent the place of 
these curves, will add the presence of a charming 
Greek line, and will be universally becoming. If 
the diagram (Fig. 19) is always in mind, the folds 
of the drapery so arranged that they help to mark 
the slender end of the joining curves at the foot, 
and perpendicular lines predominating rather than 
horizontal ones, the result should be good. As 
only natural lines are pre-eminently beautiful, no 
dress should appear to alter them ; even to seem 
to do so is an act of savagery. No dress can be 
admirable that suggests a personal deformity. So, 
also, any arrangement that impedes free, graceful 
movement, or seems to do so, should be inadmis- 
sible. The truths of Nature are absolute; every 
departure is inevitably less worthy. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 151 

Sleeves may be treated distinctly from the 
gown ; since among Northern nations the clothing 
of the arm seems to be a sort of branch from the 
main garment. Every woman must have noticed 
how much larger promise of charm her unfinished 
dress conveys than is afterward realized when the 
sleeve is attached, — perhaps because no texture can 
rival the flesh of the arm. A different material, 
more costly, may well be used in sleeves. They 
have been made of late of gorgeous embroidery. 

The sleeve should begin where the arm begins, 
that it may seem to be supported from the 
shoulder. It is of a good pattern when its upper 
edge is so high that it forms the sides of a neck 
cut square back and front, accenting the shoulder- 
joint, and dispensing with the arm-hole seam 
across it. 

The shape of the arm, largest at top, and the 
play of the shoulder, seem to suggest the freedom 
of gathers; but they should not obscure the ex- 
quisite line from neck over shoulder and arm. A 
puff giving room at the elbow satisfies the need of 
motion there. If the sleeve tapers to the wrist, 
it follows natural lines. Ornament at the wrist 
spreading away and above a well-formed hand 
seems to magnify its importance, as deep embroid- 



152 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

ered cuffs. If the hand is thin and wrinkled, ruffles 
falling over it conceal its defects, and at the same 
time accent its value. 

A thoroughly good sleeve of the olden time was 
a full one from shoulder to hand, such as has beeri 
known as the bishop sleeve. Its folds were con- 
fined by plain pieces tied on between shoulder and 
elbow, and between elbow and wrist. These pieces 
fitted the arm and were of firm texture. The full 
sleeve poked out between the pieces and between 
the tyings, along the back of the arm. This was 
very picturesque. It has been rudely imitated, 
of late, by a sleeve that is full at the top, has 
longitudinal tucks down to the elbow, where 
the fulness is unconfined, and has tucks again to 
the wrist. 

Conformity to natural lines is also observed by 
a sleeve that follows the upper arm to the elbow, 
and then breaks into the gathers of a deep ruffle. 
All forms of this sleeve should have the gathers 
about the elbow-joint. 

As the arm is always more noble than its cover- 
ing, greater beauty is attained when its shape and 
motion are easily discerned. Made of woven tex- 
tiles, the best type of sleeve is an early one, — a 
shape that is thoroughly useful and always beauti- 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 53 

ful. In itself a simple cylinder, it takes its beauty 
from the arm alone. It is amply large at the 
shoulder, and loose enough to roll up above the 
elbow. It is the sleeve of peasants and fish-wives. 
It should never be ornamented, except at its upper 
and lower edges. The wrinkles it takes from use 
express movement. It is the beauty that human 
action gives to apparel, that an artist likes to paint 
in a child at play, — - a charm which is lost when 
its mother tries to make it more presentable by 
putting on a fresh apron. 

The sleeve banded at intervals close to the arm, 
making a succession of puffs, is called the Valois 
sleeve. It is good, because it follows structural 
lines. One of the puffs should include the elbow. 
The long puff at top of a modern sleeve should be 
long enough to come below the elbow-joint for the 
same reason. The voluminous sleeves of some 
Venetian portraits are attractive because of their 
splendour of texture, which, however, is not as high 
a grace as beauty of form. It is quite possible 
that we may come to think that the most charming 
clothing for the arm would be of elastic material, 
displaying at once fine contour and grace of 
motion, as the clothing of the legs and feet is 
beautiful in the ballet. 



154 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

Modern coat-sleeves with a curving seam out- 
side and a shorter one inside seem to require that 
the arms should always be bent, the hands folded. 
They contradict structure and the needs of use ; 
they are therefore bad. 

As we have said, no gown can attain a grace 
beyond the limits of its lining, so a sleeve should 
not be lined. 

Radiation of folds should be from points of sup- 
port, mainly from the shoulders, secondarily from 
the hips, but from nowhere else. Where folds are 
gathered together there should be some apparent 
cause for the diminishing; as a belt or band, a 
clasp or buckle. A festoon in Nature is the 
drooping of a vine between comparatively firm 
trees or branches. In upholstery it is the radia- 
tion of folds of drapery between two fixed sup- 
ports on a wall or above a window, as lambrequins. 
What can be falser in art than festoons around the 
bottom of a dress in place of a flounce, the points 
of suspension constantly falling together in the 
folds of the skirt? 

The character of a thing originates in its con- 
struction, and is determined by a certain unity 
throughout. That unity necessarily implies a pur- 
pose, therefore utility must have the preference of 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 55 

decoration. The same construction forms must 
not be applied indiscriminately to differing 
materials. 

Thoroughly sound construction is often suffi- 
cient to insure beauty. A well-designed costume 
is not dependent upon trimming. Lines of orna- 
ment, suggesting a diagram, destroy unity of 
effect. Trimming should be the enrichment of 
edges in the prevailing hue, or in a rich har- 
mony of tones. Often an appropriate lining is 
a sufficient addition for accent, emphasizing col- 
lar and cuffs. The wonderful finish we admire 
in mediaeval dress depends largely upon the 
fact that all ornamentation was based upon 
necessity. 

The slashed sleeve, in all its varieties, was an 
imitation of the picturesque effect of a sleeve that 
was slipped on and off by the thrifty housewife. 
In all the older pictures these are invariably at- 
tached to the bodice by hooks, ribbons, or but- 
tons, between which the white under-garment 
showed an agreeable contrast of colour, proving 
again that use and beauty are inseparably allied. 
These movable sleeves were enriched with orna- 
ment, were given as souvenirs of friendship, and 
were worn as favours at tournaments. 



156 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

Elaine brought to Launcelot — 

" A red sleeve 
Broidered with pearls ; and then he bound 

Her token on his helmet." 

Another law requires that decoration must be 
appropriate to its place, and suited to the surface 
it adorns. Every human being has the stamp of a 
distinct personality, which should be preserved in 
every agreeable feature of it. As individuals dif- 
fer, the dress of one woman should not necessarily 
be like that of any other woman. It should be no 
compliment to say that the apparel of another 
would be suitable, any more than to say that an- 
other's mental furniture would be appropriate. 
Elderly women often cling to the fashions of 
their youth, and receive a kindly tolerance in so 
doing. Are they not more interesting on that 
account? 

Some one asks : " Does it not require great 
moral courage to be so individual? " A Quaker- 
ess, speaking on simplicity of living, said: " One 
at first dreads to be queer; but after one has been 
queer a little while, it is not so hard." However, 
one does not succeed in dressing well if queerness 
is the only result. If a dress is beautiful it will 
make the most of the graces of the wearer, and 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 57 

the least of her defects. It will not draw attention 
to itself, but will convince every one that its 
wearer is charming in her way. Can it then re- 
quire much courage to look one's very best? 
There ought not to be a moment's hesitation in 
deciding whether one will be a dummy to hold the 
clothes the seller wants to be rid of, or whether 
one will be a distinct personality, greater and 
better than all the vesture ever made. If every 
woman dared to express her taste, her principles, 
her soul in her raiment, how full of charm society 
would be ! 

Fashions are proposed, that every one shall 
adopt them ; no modifications are expected. If 
the fashion in hats carries a pyramid of flowers 
and feathers, a pyramid it must be, upon the aged 
woman and the child, above the broad face and 
the narrow one ; no matter what the form of the 
hat, flat or conical, it must still have a perpendicular 
handle. Fashion is a sort of measure, — straight, 
hard, and inflexible. It recognizes no personality, 
bends to no individual grace. Its meagreness will 
ruthlessly expose the most infelicitous traits, its 
fussiness will overwhelm a simple child. 

Real elegance is rare, because it is confounded 
with elaboration and display. Simplicity is the 



158 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

key-note of refinement, of good taste, of genuine 
culture. The nobler the work of art, the simpler 
it is found to be. Provided the body is in fine 
proportion, the simpler the form of dress ap- 
pears to be at first glance, the more elegant the 
result. 

An artist so arranges his scheme of colour, his 
composition of line, as to lead up to that particu- 
lar part of his picture intended to produce the 
strongest impression. He subordinates every ac- 
cessory, securing such simplicity as is most effec- 
tive for his purpose. " Simple lines, simple val- 
ues," is a studio rule. To dress well is to make a 
picture of one's self. Such a result then must be 
reached by the means an artist uses. 

What is beautiful in dress must necessarily be 
healthful, comfortable, suitable, and becoming. 
Besides these qualities it may be as simple, as 
picturesque, as lovely, as graceful, as magnificent 
as may be in keeping with the occasions on which 
it is worn. 

Since the highest beauty is one with the greatest 
utility, the woman of slenderest resources is not 
debarred from realizing great charm in the use of 
the homeliest of fabrics. Let the texture be what 
it must, if the form is in harmony with its quality, 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 59 

with the wearer's personality, and with her ordi- 
nary needs, if the colour is such as sets off her com- 
plexion, if her bearing is erect and noble, she may 
satisfy herself that she is arrayed in many of the 
qualities of beauty; she may be winning and 
altogether bewitching in a very cheap gown. 
Beauty is not to be realized in costume without 
thoughtful consideration. The poorest may give 
that. Costly and magnificent stuffs are powerless 
without it. 

It is plain, then, that the humblest member of the 
household may be dressed beautifully. Many of 
our most valued pictures are of working people in 
their working clothes. Such attire is likely to 
express character and suggest sentiment. An 
American artist, about to return to Europe after 
finishing his course of studies there, was asked 
why he was not loyal enough to his own country 
to stay at home and paint our scenery and our 
folk. He said: " Our people are not picturesque, 
as peasants are, whose dress is simpler, more artis- 
tic." With them everything is for use, every form 
has a meaning, every pair of strings is made to tie, 
every button buttons something. A real kerchief 
covering the shoulders is so much better than a 
waist trimmed in the form of a kerchief. 



l6o BEAUTY OF FORM. 

Truth is an important element in every work of 
art. It must be true to Nature. It must be what 
it appears to be. Anything that looks useful and 
is useless is bad, and the more plainly it is seen to 
be artificial, the worse it is ; for instance, a hood 
that can never cover the head, or a veil that was 
never intended to cover the face, buttons that 
fasten nothing, or bows of ribbon stuck on to give 
a bit of colour without use. 

When once undertaken, the task of deciding 
what will be most becoming and beautiful is made 
all the more alluring and profitable from the fact 
that it may be done once for all. The right thing 
for the right place once determined, there is noth- 
ing to do but to adhere to it till personal condi- 
tions change, or until further growth suggests 
something better, on the same lines of choice or 
construction. Fashion is no longer to have a dis- 
turbing voice in the debate. A lasting farewell 
may be taken of fashion-plates. Their poses are 
usually pert, if not inane ; they are altogether 
exaggerated, untrue, misleading, villanous. To 
the average woman they are mischievous, to the 
young or untaught positively detrimental. It 
takes long and faithful study to nullify the influ- 
ence of their pernicious education of the eye to 



BEAUTY OF FORM. l6l 

false contours, an education that is persistent, 
delusive, abiding. 

Yet it is possible, to those who are thoroughly 
imbued with a love of right standards, to make 
even bad representations helpful to something bet- 
ter. There are many designs of clothing depicted 
on distorted forms that are really good in them- 
selves, and would be eminently attractive if inter- 
preted according to classic proportions. 

The fashions for children's clothing at the pres- 
ent time exemplify many of the best ideas regard- 
ing beautiful costume. Of course it is not meant 
that exaggerated forms are to be commended. 
Short waists, pleats from the shoulder and neck, 
full sleeves, and wide hats are in keeping and in 
good taste ; soft shirred caps, short waists, and 
coats less voluminous, are also admirable. 

The want of moderation that hampers a little 
child with a skirt too long for its convenience, is a 
departure from the general good effect and a vio- 
lation of the laws of art. Spring-heeled shoes 
allow little folks to use their legs naturally, secur- 
ing that ease of motion which in every-day play 
allows them to get over the ground in the same 
mysterious, apparently unguided manner observed 
in the young of animals. When high-heeled slip- 

ii 



1 62 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

pers are added to their equipment for a party, 
they become at once awkward and self-conscious, 
fantastic and ungraceful in their efforts to manage 
the unwonted clumsiness. 



CHAPTER X. 



BEAUTY OF MATERIAL. 




If a definite plan is formed 
in providing the wardrobe, en- 
during materials chosen and 
becoming tints adhered to 
from year to year, the whole 
supply will become most satis- 
factory; hats, gloves, and 
other accessories being har- 
monious, and so continuing to 
Fig. 68. be till hair and complexion 

change. 
Having a few chosen colours in mind, if one can 
wait for supplies till the season is partly or wholly 
past, advantage may be taken of lessened prices, 
and something gained for the future. It is a mat- 
ter to be considered, whether it is not better to 
forego a certain gratification in being thoroughly 
equipped for the present season, that a greater 
benefit may accrue the following year. A ward- 



1 64 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

robe that is to be beautiful till it has perished in 
useful wear, may well grow slowly into complete- 
ness, by thoughtful discrimination, without haste 
and worry. The danger of an unfortunate pur- 
chase lies in want of due consideration. 

It is desirable to get fabrics fascinating for their 
draping qualities, and to experiment with them ; 
many artistic truths are to be learned in the prac- 
tice. A length of materia] is, of course, expres- 
sionless ; but it may be grace itself when fashioned 
into a gown with radiating lines of folds. 

Silks and velvets are enduring and beautiful, 
each having its peculiarly good features. The 
richer the fabric, the simpler should be its treat- 
ment, that the charm of its texture may be re- 
tained. Velvet is desirable because of its rich 
colour. Its peculiar depth of tone gives accent to 
shades and textures combined with it. They 
should not, however, differ greatly in strength of 
hue, and the velvet should not be distributed 
through the costume, breaking up its general mass 
of colour. Its texture is heavy, therefore it is suited 
to the grace of a simple design. Because it does 
not express form and movement in delicate folds, 
its effect is to eliminate bulk, being therefore par- 
ticularly suited to a woman of massive propor- 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 65 

tions. Velvet that has been steamed, whether old 
or new, becomes soft and agreeable to wear, with- 
out losing its splendour. Velveteen has a recog- 
nized value ; its qualities are different from those 
of velvet, and it is no longer considered a cheap 
imitation. In colour it has an agreeable sheen. 
Being less elegant, it is suited to a greater number 
of occasions, and is very durable. Another variety 
of velveteen, corduroy, may now be had in soft 
colours and of a flexible quality. 

One may get almost any effect in silk, from 
magnificence to summer-like daintiness. There are 
brocades, failles, peau-de-soics, bengalines, China 
and Japanese wash-silks, and all the varieties of 
rhadames, more or less lustrous, from surahs to 
pure satin, these last suitable for linings, The 
wash-silks are admirable for summer wear, and are 
inexpensive; they are all that is claimed for 
them. The goods of the Associated Artists being 
soft, heavy, of exquisite design and lasting quality, 
are very choice. 

Double-fold heavy silk crape is a charming ma- 
terial. Henrietta cloth and woollen crape are less 
good, but available. Even cotton crape is not to 
be despised. 

There are many textures in upholstery goods 



1 66 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

that give most desirable effects, being heavy, more 
or less flexible, wide, and of good design. One 
should not hesitate to use anything that will suit 
the purpose, whether or not it has been so used 
before. Let us release ourselves from the bond- 
age of tradition and precedent, and appropriate 
such materials as will serve to give an artistic result. 
" The world belongs to those who take it." 

Linen velours, or plush, which may be had with 
a nap on one or both sides, is a fabric capable of 
admirable handling. It is heavy and soft, and 
takes most agreeable folds. It is to be thought of 
for evening cloaks. Men have worn it for studio 
suits. 

Cloths make enduring dresses. To get their 
finest effect and to make them light enough to be 
thoroughly comfortable, they should be made 
without lining or stiffening of any sort. They are 
particularly desirable in street gowns. We have 
seen a very fine costume made of cloth that seemed 
too thick for anything but cloaking. 

Of course, elegant materials arranged with skill 
are magnificent, but a judicious use of inexpensive 
ones will be rewarded by most picturesque effects. 
There can be no absolute rules for guidance, only 
hints. Good taste will be sensitive to what is in- 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 6/ 

felicitous, and will suggest farther possibilities ; for 
what is a charming design in one fabric is wholly 
inappropriate for another. 

One cannot rely upon those, however skilled 
in conventional dressmaking, who betray an igno- 
rance of anatomy or of art. One must think for 
one's self to design beautiful garments, at least at 
present. 



CHAPTER XI. 



BEAUTY OF COLOUR. 



It is harmony of colour, grace of form, and 
fitness to the personality of the wearer that makes 
a gown beautiful ; not richness of material, nor 
cost of ornament. 

The most important quality of a dress is its 
colour. It is nothing to a possible wearer if not 
becoming. Such tints as best set off complexion, 
hair, and eyes as they are to-day, are to be chosen, 
and not such as were becoming in the past. Neither 
is one's delight in pet colours to be indulged, unless 
they are peculiarly felicitous. We know one wo- 
man who sacrifices brilliant beauty to her love of 
dark blue, black and dark gray, while warm browns, 
dull reds, and tan colours should be chosen. 

" Among some Russian emigrants was an old 
man with a long gray beard, wearing a coat of 
gray wolf-skin, which harmonized with all the tones 
in his beard. Beside him was another, with a full 
red beard, who was a picture in a coat of bear-skin 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 69 

of reddish brown. Was it by accident that these 
two ignorant peasants had chosen the colours 
proper to themselves?" 

Harmony of colour is usually more beautiful than 
contrast of colour. The pleasure that it gives is 
more easily attainable. The same hue repeated in 
velvet or velveteen for skirt, cloth for coat, satin 
for coat lining, with an edge of silk cord, and hat 
of felt, with feathers, will produce a charming 
variety, even if all of the same colour. 

A brilliant lining, to be seen only at times, may 
be a happy addition when the other tones of the 
costume lead gradually up to it. Striking panels, 
bold embroidery, and assertive garniture of every 
sort are to be avoided, because they break the 
gentle succession of values. They are a discord, 
an interruption. The effect is similar to the jar 
felt when, without preparation, a change is made 
in music from a major to a minor key. Colour 
gradations in Nature are exquisitely subtle. 
Where the skin meets the lips there is most deli- 
cate blending, and where the hair meets the skin. 
Flowers present illustrations of wonderful arrange- 
ment of intermediate tints. 

The lustre and gleam of textures so greatly 
modify their colour that this fact is to be consid- 



170 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

ered when making a choice. A woman of medium 
tone needs surroundings that harmonize with her, 
— old pink, old blue, dull reds and non-aggressive 
greens ; not black nor harsh blue, nor steel-gray, 
nor purple-pink, for these are cold, rigid, and un- 
sympathetic. The colour of the hair and the colour 
of the eyes have long been recognized as happy 
suggestions for the colour of a gown. For evening- 
wear there can be nothing prettier than colours re- 
lating to the flesh, but duller. Soft, indescribable 
pinky browns and drabs are desirable. Beauty of 
colour is like the charm of music. A sweet concord 
should be sought, unless one has great skill in the 
management of colour tone. If the eyes are of too 
pale a blue, they may be apparently deepened by 
a mass of blue in the dress matching them, or 
darker. This must not be done if the dark colour 
deepens the lines of the face. 

A woman should hesitate long before adding to 
her costume an accessory likely to rival herself. 
A bunch of flowers or ribbon bows of a tint 
brighter and clearer than the complexion, however 
attractive in themselves, should be foregone by the 
woman who prefers to be paramount to her sur- 
roundings. Such a one will inflexibly discard 
everything that can vie with her flesh-tints. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. IJI 

There are most charming combinations of colour, 
rich and gorgeous, not because of blooming, bril- 
liant, dazzling tints, but because of their exquisite 
accord of position, their intrinsic tenderness or 
glow, their variety of hue, their rhythmic blending. 
There may be a whole symphony of colour in a 
costume, as the whole gamut of harmony in a musi- 
cal composition. These luxuriant effects are read- 
ily attained by those who have what is called an 
eye for, colour, or they are realized after careful 
study and experiment. They are the later achieve- 
ments of artistic effort. The Japanese are espe- 
cially skilful in colour combination. They will put 
upon a decorated vase almost every imaginable 
shade ; and yet the quantity of each hue will be so 
exquisitely measured that the resulting tone will 
be a rich brown. 

The primary colours, red, yellow, and blue, and 
the secondary colours, green, orange, and purple, 
are to be used as one would use gunpowder, — most 
cautiously. But there is a world of shades of ter- 
tiary colours — citrine, russet, and olive — that are 
eminently available. Also grays, fawns, and tan 
colours. 

The most manageable colours for dress are those 
which must be described by naming two or more 



172 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

hues. Complementary colours, such as red and 
green, orange and blue, should never be used 
together, except where a large mass of one is 
accented by a small quantity of the other. Be- 
cause a colour should break tenderly into another, 
even though they are shades of the same hue, the 
edges of trimming where it meets the body of the 
dress should be softened by irregular curves or 
other unevenness. 

There are few colours well worn with black. A 
reddish brown that is darker than a medium tone 
is agreeable, or a pale yellow blue in small quan- 
tity. Bottle-green, with the brown of sable fur, 
warm gray with the colour of plucked otter, deli- 
cate gray with a little pink of the same value, are 
happy combinations. 

White strengthens every colour in its immediate 
vicinity. It finds a charming place in the dress of 
infants, and with the clear complexion of elderly 
women. It apparently increases size, and should 
have a slight tint of cream colour to make it avail- 
able for other people. 

Gray combines the negative qualities of black 
with the purity of white. It repeats the charm of 
gray hair, and well worn is most poetic. Its pale 
reflections lighten the wrinkled face and make it 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 73 

seem more youthful. A gray made of black and 
white threads is agreeable, if light in tone. Dark 
shades of this gray are severe. In some mixtures 
of wool and silk the effect is glittering, and is to be 
avoided. Grays akin to blue or purple present the 
greatest difficulty. A soft warm gray with a trifle 
of cream colour in its composition is most accept- 
able. The effect is very bad when a pink gray, a 
blue gray, and a green gray are worn together. 
Each different hue should be treated separately. 
Again, delicate grays, greens, and blues will give a 
fragile person almost a corpse-like expression. 

Violet is apt to be unbecoming. It gives sallow 
complexions a tint of orange, and fair ones a tint 
of yellowish green. But there are many sorts of 
violet that are available, — lilac, lavender, plum, am- 
ethyst, and the various tones of heliotrope. Its 
more beautiful varieties incline to red. Most pur- 
ples look brown by artificial light. They are all 
intense, and hence seldom available. 

Greens should incline to yellow rather than to 
blue. Blue green and green blue make a good 
combination. Blue generally looks better by itself, 
or mixed with white. It should never be used 
in its purity; it is too cold and severe. It is 
best when it has a dash of yellow in it, or of 



174 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

green. Blue silks with a thread of white are made 
silvery. 

Red expresses the glow of physical health. Full 
reds may be used to overpower too strong a flush 
of colour. They render red shades in the hair 
agreeably prominent. A brick red lends a little 
glow to pale, fair complexions. 

Many women choose to wear black, with the idea 
that it makes the skin fairer by contrast. So it 
does. Those look well in it who are reasonably 
fair and plump, with no care-lines, — such pretty 
women as may wear anything. Ash-blondes may 
be brilliant in it. Black absorbs something of 
every colour near it, and may be favourable to those 
who are too florid. It is especially good for young 
girls with rosy complexion and red hair. But those, 
over thirty, who have strong character lines, or 
those who bear the marks of advancing age, should 
avoid it. It sends up dark reflections, which deepen 
every wrinkle and increase apparent age. Stout 
women wear black in the hope of reducing appar- 
ent size. When dressed with especial care, it is 
apt to be in an aggressive black satin. The tight 
gown looks as if made of patent leather. The high 
lights of the texture emphasize all curves and rig- 
idity. Any advantage of colour is worse than lost 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 75 

by bad form. Others wear black as a convenient 
way to solve the colour problem. It is an evasion ; 
the opportunity to use harmonious tints and at- 
tractive hues is thrown away. 

If a woman will observe what colour elicits most 
remark from her friends when they seem best 
pleased with her appearance, or the colour which 
her mirror tells her makes her complexion appear 
clearer or warmer or brighter, she will find that 
she has made some progress towards the solution 
of the question. 

There are good dull tones to be found in an 
October landscape, difficult to describe, but easily 
recognized. 



CHAPTER XII. 



ACCESSORIES. 




Fig. 69. 



As a small head is a beautiful 
endowment, its size should not 
be sensibly augmented by the 
dressing of the hair. Those 
who have a great wealth of 
this possession should sacri- 
fice an excess of it, rather 
than overpower the effect of 
a greater beauty. 
For persons differing wholly in appearance and 
feature to dress the hair in exactly the same 
manner cannot be equally in good taste. The 
disposal of it may immediately effect a radical 
change in the expression of a person. However 
it may be managed, the outline of the skull should 
be somewhere preserved. Any coiffure that cov- 
ers the delicate blending of colour where the hair 
meets the temple or the skin of the neck, becomes 
at once wiggy. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 77 

If the face is disproportionally large, the hair 
should not be dragged away from it, but allowed 
to encroach upon its borders. Bangs or fringes, 
pretty in themselves, should not be worn to con- 
ceal temples that are still more beautiful. It is 
a mistake to suppose that hair piled on top of 
the head can add to apparent height. To do so, 
only puts the eyes in the wrong position. The 
face is to be measured from an imaginary line 
resting on its top, not from the point where the 
hair joins the skin. Eyes lower than half the face 
give a childish look; higher than half, make it 
masculine. If the back hair appears slightly above 
the head, it gives a suggestion of added height 
without disturbing proportion. 

Protection for the head is of two types, — the 
hat, with a brim more or less wide, affording or 
suggesting shade ; and the cap, following the lines 
of the head and supplying warmth. Elderly 
women often need the good qualities of both 
forms. A combination would be admirable. 

A hat that looks like a boat poised on the top 
of a head, rigged fore and aft with wired bows, 
holding a crew of artificial flowers, may be a re- 
markable creation, but if it does not shade the 
face, it has lost the purpose of a hat. It adds 



I78 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

nothing, it suggests nothing. A bonnet that only 
covers a coil of hair, whose lower edge is two or 
three inches above the tops of the ears, has also 
departed from the warmth, or appearance of 
warmth, that makes a bonnet artistic. It reminds 
one of the old satire that described woman's head- 
gear as a pearl bead on a thread of floss. Either 
are poor things, let the cost of their materials be 
what they may. 

When the lower part of the face is too narrow, a 
broad bow under the chin helps to restore proper 
proportion. If the face is too heavy below, the 
bonnet should be trimmed broadly above, and rib- 
bon-strings should encroach upon the amplitude of 
cheek and chin. Bonnet-strings will make many 
a face look ten years younger. Head-gear whose 
lines culminate in a point at top, increase the 
grossness of a face already too heavy. A small 
bonnet makes a large face look still larger. One 
often wonders how an elderly woman can be will- 
ing to sacrifice possible good looks, by wearing a 
bonnet like her younger neighbour, — exposing in 
all its ungainliness a painfully wrinkled face, or one 
over fat, or a forehead wanting in hair, or tricked 
out in an unsightly brown wig. 

The lines of a hat or bonnet should bring into 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 79 

prominence the best lines of a face, and lessen by 
proximity those that are less happy. If the eyes 
are round, the nose inclined to a snub, the eye- 
brows deeply arched, the mouth small and round, 
these curves should not be repeated in the head- 
gear. The hair should be worn smoothly, and ca- 
pricious effects avoided. 

There is distinction in the way the neck rises 
from the shoulders. It is a pity to sacrifice so 
fine a grace by covering it. There is reason to 
believe that it is more wholesome to leave it some- 
what exposed. To hamper it, is to mar the ex- 
pression of the whole body. There can be no 
grace in a neck that has no room to move in gen- 
tle curves. Freedom of the head, hands, and feet 
is a necessary condition of self-control. To clothe 
the neck to the chin in an inflexible band, is to 
lose a most desirable opportunity for grace of 
movement. Besides, the purpose of the neck in 
sustaining the head should be emphasized, and not 
obscured. 

There are many ways of dressing the neck that 
most agreeably set off the face. Even a scrawny 
neck is better in folds of lace. The changes that 
age brings, are in no wise unlovely above an am- 
plitude of transparent kerchief nearly meeting a 



l8o BEAUTY OF FORM. 

dainty cap. The fashion of the latter part of the 
last century, where a small shawl of lace or gauze 
was worn under the square-cut neck of the gown, 
was for women of all ages most becoming. What 
was ever more dainty than the simple fichu of the 
Quakeress, of the finest India muslin, with a broad 
hem? There are most delightful possibilities for 
a certain type, in the use of this accessory. It 
may with as little trouble be just as neat, conve- 
nient, and appropriate, even for travelling, and a 
thousand times more charming, than the hard, stiff, 
heating, unbecoming linen collar. Its form may 
be varied in numberless ways. It may tie in front 
more or less high, or behind in the place of a sash. 
A white collar seems to be the ornament of an 
under-garmeot. When large, and falling from the 
neck upon the shoulders, it gives, if transparent, 
a soft gray environment becoming to ordinary 
faces. The flaring collar turned up about the 
ears is a feature that adds dignity to a costume, 
so it be well managed. For in-door garments, it 
is better if its points are softened and drooping to 
the outline of neck and shoulders. It is especially 
fitting on an out-door wrap. There it plainly and 
very agreeably tells of added comfort, giving 
besides a background, often of fur, for the lower 



BEAUTY OF FORM. l8l 

part of the face. On a summer wrap it looks 
burdensome and inappropriate. 

Mr. Edmund Russell says: "The short jacket, 
as usually worn, is natty and aggressive. Its seams 
are assertive. They attract notice first, last, and 
every time. The garment has a Daughter-of-the 
Regiment air, spirited, piquant, jaunty, pert." Few 
women would seriously choose to express these 
qualities. Still, a half-fitting, well-cut short jacket, 
with seamless back, may be gentle in its outlines 
and agreeable, if long at the back and open in 
front, where a loose vest will allow the convex 
front of the body under the bust perfect freedom. 
Being of the same material, the jacket, having no 
trimming except unobtrusive buttons, would show 
no marked dividing line between it and the skirt, 
giving a oneness of effect desirable for all except 
very tall women. 

Cloaks or loose-fitting coats express so per- 
fectly the need and supply of additional warmth, 
besides the easy amplitude that grants a slight iso- 
lation so grateful to a sensitive person, that utility, 
simplicity, and suitableness unite in rendering them 
admirable. A cloak lined with fur is good for 
its warmth and comparative lightness. Coats or 
ulsters, being more convenient when it is neces- 



1 82 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

sary to use the arms, should be made of textures 
light in weight, and comparatively scant as to skirt. 
When worn by women of right proportions, they 
are very pleasing, from their simple lines and 
oneness of effect. 

For riding or walking there is no more accept- 
able form than a cloak for an out-door wrap. If 
one drives, arm-holes and adjustable sleeves should 
be added. With yoke and fulness below, it is the 
peasant-cloak so often pictured. Shoulder-capes 
covering the yoke are an agreeable addition. 
Care is needed to adjust the weight of material 
and its fulness. In choosing a wrap, much more 
in its manufacture, there is room for the nicest 
skill in individual adaptation. Human thought, 
contrivance, and design make even the cheapest 
material things of beauty. A circular cloak adds 
apparently to height. The very tall woman will 
make a happier choice of another pattern. 

A durable, economical wrap of good design 
must at the first seem expensive. If chosen with 
due consideration, it will, year after year, reward it, 
for, as we have seen, a beautiful thing is always 
beautiful, and change for the sake of change is 
not desirable. 

Capes are convenient additions to a wardrobe. 






BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 83 

Those that are closely fitted while the arms are 
held down, rise in ungainly folds upon the least 
motion, contradicting the essential lines of the 
body, and destroying grace. Stuffed shoulders 
simulate deformity. Capes are satisfactory made 
wholly or in part of accordion pleats. Their 
length should not divide height inartistically. 
Agreeable divisions bear the relations of uneven 
numbers, as five to eight, seven to thirteen. 

A cape of clinging material cut on the plan of 
a circle, but not too full on the lower edge, may 
be a graceful garment, especially if like the dress, 
so there will be no chopping off of the figure at 
its lower line. Fringe exactly matching in colour 
helps to combine the two. A circular cape falling 
well below the elbows, with long ends down the 
front, is perhaps the very best shape for a wrap 
made of fur. Increased size is at once recognized 
as belonging to the wrap, and not to the person. 
The flaring collar is particularly appropriate in 
fur. 

Gloves should be worn for warmth, should be 
soft, elastic, loose. A stiff hand looks larger than 
a flexible one, and lacks in beauty too ; for motion 
is a higher grace than form. The hand that 
is squeezed looks like a fin, and its covering has 



1 84 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

entirely departed from the first principles of art in 
dress. 

Shoes of the same or a slightly darker shade 
of the colour of the dress are desirable, and for 
indoor wear should be flexible as a glove, for the 
added grace and expression given to the whole 
figure. A low instep is prettily clothed in a slip- 
per trimmed with bows. A finely formed foot is 
set off by a sandal slipper with a small button on 
each band. A heavy, stiff shoe, that obliges its 
wearer to plant her feet solidly at every step, ob- 
scures its shape and harms its suppleness. A low 
shoe of patent leather, with cloth gaiters like the 
dress, is perhaps the most comfortable outdoor 
dress for the feet. 

Having ascertained how large one's foot should 
be for good proportion to one's height, it should 
be made to appear larger by its clothing, if it is 
too small ; if it is as large as it should be, there is 
pleasure in knowing it; and if it is too large, it 
should have all the room in shoes that it will take, 
that it may have no opportunity to assert its over- 
proportion by inducing a conscious or awkward 
gait. 

A woman's carriage depends very much on the 
shoes she wears. If they pinch her feet, she can 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 85 

give no evidence of repose. If they have pointed 
toes, they sacrifice her elasticity ; if they have high 
heels, she cannot use the ball of her foot as it 
should be used : therefore, it is impossible for her 
to walk well. 

The shoes of the time of Henry the Eighth, 
which were large at the toes, the fulness gathered 
over the top like that of an Indian moccason, are 
among the few good shapes that history affords us. 
There are Persian shoes reaching above the ankle, 
shaped like the Greek buskin, made of soft leather, 
upper and sole alike. They are commonly em- 
broidered on top of the foot and at the heel. 
These are thoroughly good. A thin, soft shoe 
even for walking is desirable, a light India-rubber 
added in damp weather. It goes without saying 
that the sole of every shoe should be the shape 
of the naked foot when standing. With such a 
sole, crocheted slippers would be more durable 
than they usually are. When it is remembered 
that faulty shoes deform the body in unexpected 
ways, their proper manufacture becomes most 
important. 

No ornamentation in considerable mass should 
be lighter in tone than the complexion, but always 
in gentle lower tones, that the face may be pre- 



1 86 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

eminent; for ornament should be massed near the 
face, but should not rival it. A gem, here and 
there, flashing a white light, or in any way attract- 
ing to itself undue attention, is a discord in a 
plan to magnify personal importance. Trimming 
should not be more assertive than the dress, nor 
the dress than the woman. Any decoration any- 
where is bad which asserts itself above the thing 
decorated. 

Some of the finest effects of ornament in cos- 
tume are of allied tints rather than contrasting 
ones. In adding adornment to a gown, it is better 
to confine one's self to shades of its prevailing 
colour, unless one has the skill to arrange various 
colours of equal value, that is equally light or dark, 
so that the combined effect of the whole will be 
the same hue as the gown. To those who are 
able to unite kindred and contrasting tints in a 
perfect harmony, there are not only delightful 
possibilities of enrichment to costumes, but most 
enjoyable artistic recreation. 

If the same colours are habitually worn, the orna- 
ment for one dress may be used for many. Yokes, 
sleeves, bodices, vests, wristbands, and girdles are 
accessories of the toilet that may be made up of 
ornamentation that shall not only be charming, 



BEAUTY OF FORM. I 87 

but enduring, affording fancy work for hours of 
leisure that will be full of fascination, and if suc- 
cessful, be a pleasant possession for many years. 
These may be made of stones set in metal, linked 
together by short chains, or even strung together 
in a pretty design, if they are pierced as are nail- 
head beads. Besides these, there are pins, clasps, 
buckles, buttons, necklaces, and bracelets. To 
pierce the flesh that it may hold a jewel is a 
mutilation. 

There is a great variety of common stones in 
charming tints, which, cut in similar shapes and 
massed together in a good design, by settings in 
lace-like patterns of silver, bronze, or copper, 
would make dainty necklaces. Dull pink-toned 
stones, or pinky drabs, such as are allied to the 
complexion, might be material for something 
harmonious. Even the imitation turquoise nail- 
heads could be utilized. The only drawback in 
making a collection of such inexpensive stones 
is the setting. It is to be hoped cur jewellers 
will serve us with something as good as the 
Bavarian jewelry, which can be seen in most 
agreeable patterns, worn as clasps to a girdle. 

In choosing the colours of stones for ornament, 
the impure colours, those it takes two or more 



1 88 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

words to describe, are most desirable. More 
than a small quantity of absolutely pure colour 
will dull the complexion by contrast, and throw 
the whole scale out of key. 

Solid gold ornaments should be worn with 
great discrimination. Except in filagree or in a 
mass of delicate chains, gold is apt to be too 
bright and dense in colour. When it is a setting 
of stones, it should be quite subordinate. 

Then of the cheaper metals, silver, even in 
filagree, is too bright, except with white dresses. 
Oxidized silver may be well worn with gray. 
Ornaments of cut steel, though enduring and 
costly, are hard, stern, and too coldly glittering. 
A necklace made of hammered copper cents, 
arranged like scales and worn with a dress of the 
same colour, is an effective decoration. 

Japanese bronze ornaments will harmonize with 
many brown and green-brown textures. Other 
mixtures of metal, stamped in medallions, might 
be utilized with brownish gray fabrics, or with 
black. Garnets and topazes may look cheap 
set as gems, but used in profusion, are wonder- 
fully enriching. 

All this may be called " tawdry stage jewelry," 
and a preference expressed for one ornament of 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 89 

" real " value. If these cheap additions have a 
tawdry look, they are not rightly used. They 
should never be assertive and remind you of their 
intrinsic cost; they are then intrusive spots, usurp- 
ing the thought that should be given to the general 
appearance of the wearer. Moonstones are real 
moonstones, are they not ? And wooden beads 
real wooden beads ? If they do not pretend to 
be other than they are, they are in no wise con- 
temptible. Arranged in a good design, they are 
as respectable as perishable ribbons. Artistic 
contrivance and handiwork give them a human 
interest. Like every other article of dress or 
adornment, they must be appropriate to be 
desirable. 

There are not many who can have costly jewels 
in such profusion as to make them a large ele- 
ment in ornamentation. A necklace of small 
brilliants, set in a delicate pattern, is far more 
beautiful, more dainty, than any one large gem 
costing five times as much. The latter is always 
and forever intrusive. A large number of very 
sparkling diamonds make a dazzling display, over- 
powering the good looks of most women. Only 
radiant beauty can endure the added blaze of 
light. Solitaires worn in the ears greatly detract 






190 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

from the impression given by the features. They 
arrest one's attention, set one thinking about their 
money value, and their glitter, instead of increasing 
the lustre of eyes and teeth, dulls both. No 
matter how rare and priceless a thing is, its only 
value in a scheme of good dressing is to enhance 
the beauty of the wearer. 

Collections, even of inexpensive jewels, are not 
gathered with celerity. A general purpose per- 
sistently pursued, year after year, and opportu- 
nities, embraced when they present themselves, 
will result at last in something valuable and 
distinctive. 

Fine effects may be obtained from embroidery 
in conventional patterns. Except for a skilled 
artist it is safer to confine one's self to different 
tones of the dress colour, once in a while striking 
a higher note, but generally keeping to its lower 
tones. It is to be remembered here that shades 
a long distance apart will not be so happy in 
effect as those that are nearer. Gauzes and crapes 
are beautifully embroidered in silk of the same 
colour, with the running stitch of darning in a light 
and fanciful design. If white, they may be en- 
riched with pearl beads. A transparent texture 
powdered with a design in beads, will be a charm- 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 191 

ing decoration for the front of a dress from collar 
to ankle, or an elegant head-covering for the even- 
ing. The embroidery of Turkish towels is a good 
material well combined for sleeves or parts of 
sleeves, or for yokes of dresses. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



FROM YOUTH TO AGE. 



iimmmm 



Most of the matchless 
creations of ancient sculp- 
ture represent mature 
womanhood. The full, 
grand, stately curves of 
the Venus di Milo do not 
come earlier in life than 
thirty years (Fig. 8). A 
living woman, to resem- 
ble her, must weigh one 
hundred and sixty pounds, or more. The same 
may be said of Titian's fine figure in Sacred and 
Profane Love (Fig. 14). Psyches and Daphnes 
are the dainty, immature, blossom-like young girls 
admired in art ; but the Junos, Minervas, Melpo- 
menes, Venuses, and Madonnas have the higher 
place, and they all represent women of a large 
and sumptuous type. 




Fig. 70. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 93 

We are apt to exalt youth, to the neglect of 
other seasons. Young girls are like the trees in 
spring, whose construction-lines are too promi- 
nent. There is about them a wonderful charm 
of promise, of expectation, of tender colour and 
gentle line, but their heads are large, and their 
curves too meagre for full beauty. The chief 
attractions of youth, its innocence, vivacity, and 
enthusiasm, are unattainable at any other age. It 
is not necessary to undervalue the pleasantness 
of early life, but to emphasize the completeness 
of mature beauty. There is inherent excellence 
in all stages of human existence. Who shall say 
that one season is more admirable than another? 

Young girls should wear dainty colours and 
delicate materials, muslins and light woollens. 
For them are the tender hues of spring, the blues 
of the sky, the subtle tints of bursting foliage, 
hyacinth and crocus colours. 

The freshness of youth having passed, the 
greater charm of riper years succeeds. If one 
is built upon a generous pattern, one should try 
to be grand in every way, and delight in ampli- 
tude. A queenly, dignified woman suggests a 
wealth of experience, an opulence of personal 
magnetism, which is a benediction. Why should 

13 



194 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

she try to be a bud, when she is in magnificent 
fruitage? In our Northern climates, a woman, 
according to the anatomists, is not completely 
developed till twenty-five, — in some families not 
before thirty. 

Matrons have a wide range of colour-choice. 
September and October hues are for them, strong 
and glowing, rich and deep ; the reds and russets, 
the yellows down through brown, the heliotropes, 
garnets, and mulberries, — these are eminently 
available for out-door wear. Gorgeous and com- 
plicated tones may make interiors glowing. Now 
is the time for magnificent brocades, never appro- 
priate before, for jewels and sweeping trains and 
fine laces. 

If the hair begins to be frosty, one should keep 
in fine condition, be bracing and brilliant, in har- 
mony with the autumn weather. One should be 
like a gorgeous leaf, ripening slowly and fading 
slowly, not shrivelled and cast down in the first 
bleak day. Autumn may be a long, bright, exhil- 
arating season, with a golden Indian summer. 
When it is time to loosen hold on life, one may 
linger in some quiet corner, wearing the luminous 
tints of forest-leaves in sheltered nooks which show 
a mosaic of withdrawn hues covered with a tender 




Fig. 71. 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 197 

bloom. There is a poetry, a mystery, about these 
that speak of experiences veiled by the past. 
Such colours are found on the wrong side of tapes- 
tries and brocades. 

A placid old lady in raiment of gray, or fawn, or 
white, may be as welcome as a tender touch or an 
essential service. The return to second childhood 
should bring with it a serene benediction akin to 
that felt in the presence of her Baby Highness, the 
queen of the nursery. 

Grandma's room may be like an oasis in the 
desert, a most restful place, because of the tranquil 
expression of her face and figure. She does not 
need to do or to say much, if only her presence is 
one of repose and good cheer. It is not so much 
what one says as the way one says it which makes 
up personal charm. 

There was a plain, wrinkled, but wonderfully 
serene old woman in a city street-car. The 
young man with her seemed to be full of satisfac- 
tion and pride on her account. Her air of com- 
plete confidence in his manly protection was 
matched by his flattered complacence. In re- 
sponse to a remark, she turned to him with twink- 
ling eyes and a merry smile. It might have been 
the wittiest of answers that left her lips, uttered 



198 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



with such winsome delight. Her words were, " I 
cannot hear you." She evidently felt the liveliest 
enjoyment in his effort to entertain, and was per- 
fectly willing to let the rest go. Her interested 




Fig. 72. 

fellow-travellers all felt the peace of her well- 
balanced nature, her calm dignity, — doubtless the 
outcome of much of life's chastening-. 

There is a ministry of beauty, grace, and har- 
mony, as well as a service of endeavour, which may 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 1 99 

bless one's friends when disinterested activity is no 
longer possible. 

Finally, an old lady in white may be like a 
poem, with the snows of winter on her head, but 
wearing the promise of an eternal spring. 






CHAPTER XIV. 



MODELS. 



To cultivate taste we must study acknowledged 
standards. To learn what is best in costume we 
should know the best types. The world has never 
seen nobler apparel than that worn by the women 
of ancient Greece. All artists agree in acknowl- 
edging its pre-eminent beauty. Probably it will 
never be surpassed. It has always been the garb 
of allegory, and therefore our Goddess of Liberty 
is arrayed in it. Because it was a costume that 
grew out of the natural conditions and necessities 
of the people who were clothed in it, it is all the 
more capable of teaching what is good in raiment. 
Its lines and folds are more refined and chaste 
than the drapery of any later period. Its admira- 
ble effects were produced by the simplest means. 
All garments were made of rectangular pieces of 
cloth, used just as they come from the loom. 
There can be no better way to study beautiful 
effects of line than to experiment before a mirror 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



201 



with pieces of cloth arranged like the ancient chi- 
ton, which was the simplest of Greek garments. 

Before it was put on, a band of lambskin (Fig. 
74), an inch and a half wide, was arranged to hold 
it. To imitate this, 
place the middle of a 
long ribbon at the 
middle of the back, 
bring forward the 
ends, cross them in 
front, pass over the 
shoulders, cross in the 
back, bring forward 
under the arms, and 
tie. The chiton was 
buttoned to this band on the shoulders. To get 
an idea of it, hold up two towels, the upper edges 
beside each other (Fig. 73). Begin to fasten these 
edges together, leaving a space in the middle, as 
if for the head to pass through. The parts closed 
would be on each shoulder, one towel falling like 
an apron in front, the other falling behind. Leav- 
ing room for the arms, begin at the arm-pit to 
close the sides to the bottom. Where the front 
and back are attached on the shoulder, there are 
gathers at each button, such as are made when a 




Fig- 73- 



Fig. 74- 



202 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



curtain is hung from rings. This is the simplest 
form of the chiton (Figs. 75 and j6). 

If a sleeve was desired, the material was sewed 
together as a skirt is before the band is attached. 





Fig. 75- 



Fig. 76. 



A place was left in the middle, as before, for the 
head to pass through, and at each end for a loose 
arm-hole. The spaces between had a number of 
buttons and puckers. Before the girdle was put 
on, the arms were raised to a level with the shoul- 
ders. When it was fastened, and the arms dropped 
again, there was no further adjustment (Fig. 75). 
When the dress was too long for convenience, it 
was drawn up through the girdle, the blouse -like 
fulness hanging lower than before. 

Another form was more complex. Imagine the 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 203 

fringed upper edges of towels turned over on the 
outside eight or ten inches, back and front, the 
doubled upper edge being treated as before, with 
gathers at each button. The dress was in length 
one and a half times the height of the wearer, and 
three yards around at the bottom. 

The easy action of the body was continually in- 
terpreted by the folds of this drapery, changing as 
they did with every motion and with every expres- 
sion of feeling. It in no way contradicted the 
natural form, and probably interfered with healthful 
activity less than any other apparel ever worn. Its 
nobleness, simplicity, and grace, as shown in stat- 
ues and in vase pictures, are unsurpassed. It was 
elegant, useful, healthful, comfortable, modest, and 
dignified. These qualities should belong to mod- 
ern dress, which need not be Greek in form to be 
Greek in spirit. 

For working hours and indoor use, even now, it 
would be an admirable means for saving nervous 
force. For evening wear it is frequently worn, with 
more or less of disappointment. We have few 
fabrics suited to its display among evening tex- 
tures, — perhaps only double-fold heavy crape. 
When F. D. Millet wished to illustrate his lectures 
on Greek dress, he could find no materials appro- 



204 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

priate, and was obliged to order them woven. 
Cheese-cloth dampened, wrung in a rope, and 
allowed to dry in that condition, to give it the 
clinging quality of the ancient garments, has been 
used with good effect. 

This apparel is always pictured upon ideal 
forms. This is perhaps the reason we do not re- 
cognize its finest effects in modern use. Figures 
less perfect seem incongruous. 

At the close of the eighteenth century the whole 
French nation moved forward to a purer public 
conscience and better institutions. The virtues of 
ancient republics were emulated in public life, and 
mirrored in the pictures of the time. David, who 
was court painter, became a revolutionary patriot. 
He was the Puritan of art compared with his 
predecessors. The accuracy of his studies of the 
human frame, his rejection of the sensual, and 
choice of ennobling subjects, together with his 
versatility, gave him such influence as brought 
classic furniture and decoration into vogue, and 
changed the presentation of classic action upon 
the stage. It was David who designed the dress 
that imitated classic drapery. Because it became 
popular during the ascendency of Napoleon, it 
has since been known as the Empire Dress. No 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 205 

costume of modern times ever had a nobler 
birth. 

Its prominent features were the high belt, short 
sleeves, long gloves, the scarf, and a slipper with- 
out a heel. The fabrics most used were a soft 
muslin and crape. The open neck was lower and 
closer than that of the Greek dress, the lacing of 
ribbons to secure the slipper imitated the classic 
sandal, and the belt reproduced the ancient girdle. 
The beauty of this last feature, worn close under 
the bust, has been recognized by painters and 
sculptors since art began. 

The propriety of the low line of the corsage has 
always been a matter in dispute. Every woman 
is free to decline wearing it. Any woman may 
keep its beauty, and satisfy her sense of delicacy 
by filling the space above with lace, with quilted 
satin, velvet, or any other material. Our grand- 
mothers adopted this dress, and we have every 
reason to suppose they were intelligent and decor- 
ous. A woman who wears her dress below where, 
in our opinion, it should be cut, is not, therefore, 
unworthy. It shows ignoble narrowness to impute 
immodesty to a woman in the face of an unim- 
peachable record, because she may differ in her 
views regarding the cut of a gown. It is the 



206 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

wearer who invests a garment with grace or 
poetry, with dash or indelicacy. 

A thoughtful writer in a late periodical says: 
" If we taught that a woman's bosom was entitled 




Fig. 77. 

to the highest honour and respect, without evil in 
itself and without reason for evil, no one would 
find shame in the sight of it. If we taught that a 
woman's leg was just as honourable a portion of her 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 207 

as a man's is of him, and no more evil, none would 
be found." No State legislature would then exist 
to pass asinine laws regarding it. 

There is no sort of doubt that many modest 
women wear the tailor-made suit of to-day, betray- 
ing, as it does, every curve and line without reserve. 
But if we had always been accustomed to see the 
human form clothed in drapery, and an attempt 
was made to replace it by the skin-tight basque, 
the sight would not be tolerated on our streets. 
Perhaps the standards of beauty may settle for us 
the vexed question of propriety, since we believe 
the whole race is made intrinsically pure and noble 
in all physical development. A woman with a 
form like a Greek sculpture might be welcomed, 
if her figure were as much revealed as Greek dress 
would allow. But the ordinary woman, deformed 
as she is, with square shoulders, a pinched waist, 
flabby bust, round back, prominent abdomen, and 
abnormally developed thighs, ought not to be for- 
given when she intrudes her ungraceful propor- 
tions in a plain skirt with all the gathers behind. 
" Beauty is its own excuse for being." Deformity 
should retreat to shadows. 

There is a decorous reserve which shuns noto- 
riety and exposure, which neither displays indi- 



208 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 



vidual endowments, preferences, nor opinions, — a 
delicacy which retires to a congenial isolation of 
personality. We may bring into our daily apparel 
that delicacy, that love of truth, warm, sincere, 




r 



Fig. 78. 



wholesome, which gives vitality to all art. We 
may show as much sensitiveness to grace of line, 
purity of thought, and charm of colour as we are 
capable of expressing. 

The belt of the Empire Dress was narrow, not 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 209 

wider than an inch and a half. If a girdle becomes 
a sash, of very soft material, worn loosely, its folds 
allowing it to be larger at the lower line, as the 
female figure is larger in gradually expanding 
curves to this point, then the sash does not contra- 
dict the beauty of the form it helps to clothe, and 
may be very beautiful. (See Figures 29, 32, Jj, 
and 79.) 

The short puff worn in place of a sleeve did not 
disturb the beauty of the line of the shoulder as it 
melts into the arm. The long glove completed its 
clothing. The long shawl, worn across the back, 
passing over the elbows and falling to the knees in 
front, is a garment which adds great elegance to an 
erect carriage. 

As this dress was worn by our grandmothers in 
the early days of our republic, we should find in it 
profitable hints for our own guidance. It has been 
extolled, of late, by artists as the most graceful 
dress worn since the classical period. Its chief 
characteristic was its simplicity. It was majestic 
only when a court train was added, as in Rhea's 
dress as Josephine in coronation robes. Sir Joshua 
Reynolds and a few later painters have left some 
graceful examples of beauties arrayed in this 
manner. 

14 






210 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

A large woman, not too stout, might wear such 
a gown. It would be becoming also to a delicate 




type of woman, whose curves are of the gentlest. 
It will not obscure the glory of the woman of lofty 
carriage and faultless proportions. 

While the Empire Dress may offer good sugges- 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 211 

tions, it cannot be copied without careful thought. 
Indeed, no example, ancient or modern, can be so 
copied with hope of success. The object of artistic 
dress is to heighten the beauty of the wearer. It 
can only be attained by thoughtful painstaking; it 
can never be realized by the woman who expects 
some one else to do her thinking. But such pains- 
taking is no more wearisome than the effort to 
provide conventional clothes, while there is the 
possibility of far more satisfactory results. 

The dress that was worn by the early English 
queens, and which continued to be the typical 
dress of the upper classes in Europe till the 
sixteenth century, was very simple in form. 
Drawings of it were very rude, and mainly 
found among the illuminations of manuscript. 
The tomb of Berengaria held the first elaborate 
representation. 

The gown had a round neck, slight fulness above 
the girdle, and long sleeves. There is good reason 
to believe it was cut like the newspaper gowns we 
make for newspaper dolls to give a child a tran- 
sient pleasure ; a hole, as for the neck, sleeves 
cut along the double end of the paper, and ample 
fulness at the armpit and below, to be gathered 
under the bust by a girdle. Even so, more thought 



212 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

went to its fashioning than to Oriental garments. 
Because of its simplicity, and in spite of its rude- 
ness, it was attractive and dignified. Two or more 
gowns were worn, one above another, the sleeves 
of the under one following loosely the shape of the 
arm, and ornamented at the wrist. The sleeves of 
the upper gown were of differing shapes, from a 
mere sash hanging from the shoulder, to an im- 
mensely full sleeve nearly as long as the gown 
itself, often lined with fur. 

The mantle was an inseparable adjunct to the 
robing of queens and noblewomen. It was bor- 
dered with ornament, and often lined with costly 
fur. It hung from the shoulders, sometimes from 
the head-dress. The brooch fastening it closely 
at first, gave way to a jewelled chain, which later 
found its place as decoration upon the neck of the 
gown itself. 

The good features of this type of dress were its 
oneness of effect, its open neck, its line of orna- 
ment often from neck to feet, its elaborate girdle, 
its massed decoration, and its mantle drapery. 

Given a classic form, there seems to be greater 
possibilities of beauty in the three types of raiment, 
— the Greek, the Mediaeval, and the Empire, — than 
in all forms that have come and gone since. When 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 213 

we remember how the most noted people of past 
times were arrayed, with what elegance, what sim- 
plicity, what utter absence of the intricate mechan- 
ism of modern manufacture, one feels there should 
be, if not a speedy return to old patterns, at least 
a contentment with those that approach their 
convenience and beauty. 

The early English dress we should recognize as at 
its best before 1300, when corsets began to be worn 
in England. The upper part of the dress gradu- 
ally fitted closer and closer, till the height and rig- 
idity and absurdity was reached in the costume of 
Elizabeth. 

Abbey, in his illustrations of the " Merry Wives 
of Windsor," has given the early English dress to 
Anne Page, though there he has omitted the 
girdle. The sleeve pointed at the wrist was for 
warmth before gloves were worn ; turned back, it 
was the source of our many varieties of cuffs. 

Though without gathers above and below the 
girdle, a princess dress is the nearest approach to 
this type in modern times. Made of soft material, 
half fitting, with no effort to avoid the inevitable 
horizontal folds when the wearer sits down, the 
princess is a beautiful design for a slender, supple 
form, whose curves are of the gentlest. No dress, 



214 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

of course, looks well upon a woman wno cannot 
stand erect, or who lops down in a shapeless mass 
when she sits. 

Linings are often made in princess form, and 
drapery tacked here and there upon them. We 
cannot recommend the practice. One secures only 
the grace of the lining, — nothing more. The gar- 
ment would better be a genuine princess gown, 
with all its splendour in the texture and accessory 
jewels. Shams are in every possible way to be 
avoided. 

The Mediaeval dress was worn long about the 
feet by queens, doubtless for warmth. Servants 
carried its extra length when the wearer walked. 
If there is in a household enough of service to in- 
sure immaculate cleanliness, a demi-train is a beau- 
tiful feature of a costume. The simple fact that 
there are, according to the census of 1880, nearly 
ten millions of families and less than one million 
and a half of household servants, proves the do- 
mestic activity of our people. When we remem- 
ber how many have more than one servant, it is 
probable that not more than one family in a dozen, 
taking the country at large, can be assumed to 
have any. A trained dress is suited neither to 
household work nor out-door exercise. If the 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 215 

wearer is neat and dainty in her ways, she must 
carry the unnecessary length in one hand, which 
deprives her of just so much power and freedom, 
either of which she can ill afford to lose, let her' 
purpose in walking be what it may. A trained 
dress in the uncleanliness of the common thor- 
oughfare is so opposed to that unfailing quality of 
beauty, fitness, that no one can fail to recognize 
that it has lost every charm when worn in the 
street. 



CHAPTER XV. 

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. 

FROM the light of starry worlds to the pearly 
secrets of the deep, from blushing East to glowing 
West, all vision is gladdened by plenteous, un- 
stinted, unspeakable beauty. The whole universe 
is its temple, and every fair form, fresh colour, and 
sweet sound, in earth, air, or sea, make up the 
blessed ministration. 

While every earthly thing is comely in its time 
and place, the crowning touch of all infinite handi- 
work is in the form of woman, where the trained 
instinct of the artist recognizes a grace of curva- 
ture no eulogy can exaggerate. 

If we have small share in this abounding grace, 
we are to cherish that little with a just and humble 
reverence. We are to regard those possible tem- 
ples of the Holy Spirit in all honour and gratitude 
and purity. " For Nature in all her processes is 
the essence of delicacy as she is of strength." Old- 
time contempt is to be displaced by reverence, 
suspicion by loving regard. No earthly thing 



BEATUY OF FORM. 217 

should be guarded by such watchful tenderness as 
the priceless vesture of our souls. 

This esteem and veneration should hasten the 
time when all the women of this nation shall be 
physically beautiful and gracefully clothed. The 
gradual appreciation of such things as are truly 
lovely, and the influence of individual example, 
must accomplish the evolution. All efforts to 
make right standards popular through the influ- 
ence of fashion we believe to be utterly futile. A 
familiarity with classic models and a knowledge of 
art are the only means adequate to realize in this 
nation beauty of form and grace of vesture. 

Nothing can prevent the growth of taste, when 
its cultivation is fairly entered upon, but an utter 
forgetfulness of the beautiful works of art already 
the glorious heritage of humanity. When the im- 
portance of the development of beauty in human 
beings is once considered in its bearings upon the 
health and happiness of the race, it would seem 
that it could not afterward be relegated to inatten- 
tion and neglect. 

The time is within easy memory when artists 
only were able to enjoy harmonious interiors of 
dwellings, because they could arrange a scheme of 
colour, prescribe decoration, and superintend the 



2l8 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

labour that realized their plan. The general diffu- 
sion of art feeling through the nation has de- 
manded that a class of decorative artists should be 
educated ; and now it is a common thing to be able 
to enjoy a pleasant atmosphere of colour within 
doors. What has occurred in the matter of inte- 
rior decoration must inevitably take place in that 
of personal adornment. At first, improvement 
will only be secured by individual painstaking. 
The exertion, however, is sure to be rewarded. It 
belongs to that class of efforts of which it is said, 
" One had rather cry over painting than laugh over 
anything else." Ideas will ripen. A harvest of 
success will come later. It is something to have 
such preparatory knowledge as shall welcome 
further truth on the same lines. 

The best natural development and the best help 
from art are to be realized by conformity to physi- 
cal law and to the best classic models. The slight- 
est reaching after true beauty is better than the 
most elaborate adornment of deformity. 

While the majority of women are now shut up 
to accepting such dress as is obtained with least 
friction, there are others who take pleasure in pro- 
viding elegant costumes for numberless occasions. 
When these shall be cultivated to recognize true 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 219 

beauty in physique and drapery, a class of educa- 
ted dressmakers will train themselves into artists, 
as house-painters have trained themselves into 
decorators. In the mean time it is favourable to 
general advancement that each woman should be 
obliged to think for herself. We believe the time 
will come, if it is not already here, when there will 
be a demand for the exercise of artistic taste in 
helping thoughtful women to the immediate sup- 
ply of becoming forms and colours, — a help similar 
to that an architect gives. He does not himself 
hew the wood, nor cut the stone, nor lay the 
bricks, neither does he personally supply the orna- 
ment; but he prescribes how it should be done, 
and if necessary secures the doing of it in proper 
order. In the mean time, before demand has sup- 
plied such artists, she is happy who has a friend to 
give her such valuable service. 

The dress-designing artists of the future will 
have graduated from art schools, through courses 
of study in anatomy, in physiology, in hygiene, 
in the art of design, in the science of colour, 
and in the laws of form. They will be familiar 
with all examples of classic beauty, with all types 
of historic costume. They will be expert in the 
mechanical processes that determine whether good 



220 BEAUTY OF FORM. 

designs shall be successfully interpreted in the 
draping of vestures. Such schools will not gradu- 
ate modistes, persons skilled in modes, but artists, 
trained in all that pertains to the natural construc- 
tion and perfect condition of human bodies, and 
deft in all possible adornment of them. Already 
there are conscientious students among ourselves 
who are qualified to be leaders in this new depar- 
ture. A wealth of illustration is on hand. To 
realize this new education and all possible achieve- 
ment rightly consequent, there is only wanting 
such general cultivation of art as shall desire and 
demand such an outcome. 

A new impetus will then be given to workers in 
the finer metals, and we may see again those days 
of exquisite design and gorgeous manufacture that 
have glorified iudustrial art in the past. 

The degeneracy of costume in modern times is 
a great hindrance to all but exceptionally gifted 
painters. Mr. Ruskin says : " No good historical 
painting ever yet existed or ever can exist where 
the dresses of the people are not beautiful ; and 
had it not been for the lovely and fantastic dressing 
of the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, neither 
French, Florentine, nor Venetian art could have 
arisen to anything like the rank it reached." 



BEAUTY OF FORM. 221 

The children of this nation are to be trained in 
public schools to the minor industrial arts. Our 
women will pursue the cultivation of taste already 
begun, and gradually learning to express personal 
conditions, they will make of themselves the lovely 
pictures they are capable of becoming. There 
will then be an abundance of costume, translating 
to our own artists the varied aspects of American 
life, from its lowest industrial plane to the charm 
of its most favoured society. There will then be 
a richness and variety of apparel expressing, as 
nothing else can, the conditions, the occupations, 
the distinctive features of our civilization, its phi- 
losophy, its philanthropy, and its political institu- 
tions. Circumstances that have hitherto fostered 
the noblest performance of painters will again 
unite in producing such a state of things as shall 
be eminently favourable to the rise of an American 
school of art. 

But beyond all these, we look for a still finer 
result from the diligent pursuit of beauty of form 
and vesture. When women shall no longer think 
in conformity to false standards, not only of beauty, 
but of natural structure, there seems no limit to 
the noble outcome that it is reasonable to expect. 
There are wonderful possibilities to be realized of 



222 BEAUTY OF. FORM. 

increased beauty, health, vigour, and energy, of 
prolonged life, of a nobler use of culture and per- 
sonal charm, in furthering all wise and beneficent 
designs to cheer and beautify and bless the world. 
Notwithstanding the slowness of the process, in 
spite of inevitable disappointment and tempor- 
ary failure, we believe, with an eloquent friend of 
woman, and " nothing shall drive us from the be- 
lief, that there is arising in America, amid all our 
frivolities, a type of womanhood new in history, 
undescribed in fiction, from which there shall 
proceed a majesty more pure and tender than 
anything which poets ever sung. Through tears 
and smiles, through the blessed cares that have 
trained the heart of womanhood in all ages, but 
also through a culture such as no other age has 
offered, through the exercise of rights never before 
conceded, of duties never yet imposed, will this 
heroic sisterhood be reared : ' as when classic 
architecture had reached perfection, there rose the 
Gothic, and made the Greek seem cold.'" 



APPENDIX. 



A. A bust- supporter answering these requirements 
has been issued under the Newell patent. It is good 
when well adjusted. It may be had on application to 
Mrs. Cressman, 102 Dickey Avenue, or to Dress Reform 
Rooms, Chicago, Illinois. 

B. The equipoise waist has been useful to some who 
have discarded corsets. It should be ordered by its 
waist measure. The bust-measure, being ten inches 
larger, is of unnatural proportions. If the waist measure 
is an easy fit, the bust may be taken in and the shoulder 
bands shortened. Its whalebones should be withdrawn 
at once, or one by one, at short intervals. 

Mrs. Flynt's True Corset, Boston, Mass., being made 
for each individual, is better, worn, of course, without 
whalebones. 

C. The accompanying cut illustrates the form of the 
garments spoken of in foregoing pages : a shows the 
tights, with feet, having an elastic or a string at the top ; 
b is a vest in silk or cotton, black or ecru; c is the 



224 



APPENDIX, 



petticoat with waist ; d a union suit without sleeves, 
but to be had in different patterns ; e is the heavy 

woollen equest- 
riennes, drawn on 
as we use a child's 
leggings in cold 
weather. 

Of knitted under- 
wear, the following 
firms may be ad- 
dressed for circu- 
lars: Hay & Todd, 
Ypsilanti Manufac- 
turing Company, 
Ypsilanti, Michigan ; 
Phillis Manufactur- 
ing Company, Schle- 
singer & Meyer, 
agents, State Street, 
Chicago. The Jaros 
and Jaeger Com- 
panies also are 
widely advertised. 




c 



Fig. 80. 



D. The following 
information is given 
to those who may 

desire to associate in the study of beauty of form and 

grace of vesture. 



APPENDIX. 225 

The first Society for the Promotion of Physical Culture 
and Correct Dress was formed in Chicago, and is fos- 
tered by the Chicago Woman's Club, meets monthly in 
its rooms, and listens to lectures and essays germane to 
its purposes. Its object is "mutual help toward learn- 
ing the highest standards of physical development, and 
mutual counsel toward realizing those standards in prac- 
tical life." In other words, it is an effort to reinstate 
the ideal proportions of classic sculpture as the correct 
standard of womanly form. It proposes also to study 
proper clothing in harmony with these contours. It 
has two hundred and fifty members, and was organized 
in May, 1888, with the usual officers, board of directors, 
and study committee to prepare the programmes of 
regular meetings. 

The following subjects have been presented : " Dress, 
and its Effects upon the System generally; " " Former 
Movements toward Better Dress;" "Artistic Dress;" 
"Beauty without Cosmetics;" "Principles of Beauty 
connected with Dress;" "Bondage of Conventional 
Dress; " "A Talk on Sculpture," by Miss Harriet Hos- 
mer; "The Anatomy of the Female Torso;" "Greek 
Dress; " "Classic and Proportionate Sizes and Measure- 
ments ; " " Revival of Classic Simplicity in the First 
French Empire ; " " Prevention and Formation of Fat ; " 
"Dress versus Woman;" "Beauty, the Expression of 
the Highest Human Qualities;" "Adaptation of Greek 
Dress to Greek Civilization;" "Relation of Diet to 
Physical and Spiritual Beauty ; " " The Unreasonable- 

15 



226 APPENDIX. 

ness of Modern Dress ; " " Dress of Northern European 
Nations;" "Are Women degenerating physically?" 
" Animating Motives ; " "The Carriage of the Body;" 
"A Plea for the Natural;" "The Doctors of the Fu- 
ture;" "Rational Dress and Moral Courage, and the 
Peasant Dress of Europe." 

The following are suggestions for the study of its 
members : " Each one is earnestly recommended to 
supply herself with a photograph of the Venus di Milo. 
In the words of the artist Hunt, ' Hang it in your room, 
trace it, copy it, draw it from memory over and over 
again, until you own it as you own " Mary had a little 
lamb." ' " Our eyes must be taught to see beauty. 

Also, there are the classic models and good pictures 
reproduced in this book to cultivate the eye and taste. 

" Visit many times the statuary in the galleries of the 
Art Institute. Study these photographs and this sculp- 
ture till you know them, till you feel their beauty, till you 
grow out of patience with female forms which do not 
have similar outlines. To appreciate a beautiful form is 
the very first lesson we have to learn concerning perfect 
physical development. 

"Then, each one has to learn for herself 'how to make 
her own body as nearly as possible like these models, 
by exercise, by diet, by every healthful process ; or, if 
necessary, to simulate corresponding proportions by 
every harmless device of art. Then, learn how to pro- 
vide such clothing as will enhance the beauty of the 
changed contours. 



APPENDIX. 227 

" For help toward realizing these standards in physique, 
read any of the physiologies, and pamphlet called ' The 
Influence of Dress in Producing the Physical Decadence 
of American Women,' by J. H. Kellogg, M. D., Battle 
Creek, Michigan, and the health journals published 
at various sanitariums. Practise carefully prescribed 
gymnastics." 

Because there is so little constructive comment upon 
ideal clothing, the members of this Society have been 
obliged to learn, as they could, the essential qualities of 
a beautiful dress for correct proportions, and to teach 
docile dressmakers how to carry out their ideas. Asso- 
ciation, with common purpose, has proved a great help 
in suggesting good designs and adding to the courage of 
conviction. The principles of art, pictorial and decora- 
tive, utility, health, ease, and fitness to condition are 
consulted, conventionality and the fashion-books are 
ignored. No woman is necessarily dressed like her 
neighbour, as her personality is not repeated. 

The aims of the Society are based upon the immutable 
foundations of physical law and the principles of art, 
which none can gainsay. So long as study and practice 
are continued on these lines, we are confident that they 
will eventually lead to an outcome of permanent artistic 
value. 



INDEX. 



Ada Rehan's Rosalind, 143. 
Art, truth to Nature in, 160. 
Artistic designing, 221. 
Artists of the future, 219, 221, 222. 

Bathing, 91. 

Beautiful mouth, 76 ; ears, 76 ; hair, 
76 ; form made up of curves, 71. 

Beauty, innate love of, 10 ; power 
of, 10; qualities of, 13; rewards 
of study of, 14, 27, 2S ; right 
standards of, 22, 28, 49 ; study of, 
27, 28 ; physical qualities of, ^ ; 
spiritual qualities of, 38-42; beauty 
of soul-cultivation, 38-42 ; unre- 
cognized, -i)l '- beauty of expres- 
sion, 38-42 ; beauty of largeness, 
42, 45 ; cultivation of, 46 ; not 
sikn-deep, 49 ; recognition of, 54 ; 
unchanging, 57; Greek standards 
of, ^j, 58 ; dependence on vital 
energy, 49 ; dependence on virtue, 
50 ; standards of, 22. 28, 49, 53, 54, 
57, 58; beauty and intellect, 50; 
beauty of the whole, 68 ; beauty 
of health. 75 ; beauty and utility, 
158 : beauty and cheapness, 159 ; 
beauty abounding, 216. 

Breast, pendulous, 22. 

Bust support, 94. 

Capes, 182, 183. 
Cloaks, 181, 182. 
Clothing, loose, 93, 95, 97 ; evils of 

tight, 94 ; for children, 161. See 

Dress. 



Colour-hints, 175. 

Colours, becoming, 168-175; grada- 
tion of, 171, 172; harmony and 
contrast of, 168-170; primary, 
secondary, and tertiary, 171 ; com- 
bination of, 171 ; white, 172 ; gray, 

172 ; blue, 173 ; green, 173 ; violet, 

173 ; red, 174 ; colours to be worn 
with black, 172-174. 

Conventional dress, why pleasing 
and why bad, 19--22; loose and 
ugly, 10 1 ; favourable to poor 
talent in dress-making, 102. See 
Dress. 

Conventional figures, unbeautiful, 
65 ; rigid, 101. 

Corpulence reduced, 80, S3, 91. 

Corsets, 69-72, 99, 100 ; add appar- 
ent size, 100 ; no excuse for, 100, 
101. 

Costume, classic, 200-205, 207. 

Courage and clothes, 29. 

Decorative art, laws of, 149, 150. 

Deformity pictured, 21, 25 ; of 
women, 21, 22. 

Delicacy, yy. 

Diagram, use of, 65, 66, 150. 

Diamonds. 189, 190. 

Diet and nutrition, 86-91. 

Drapery, expression of, 98 ; its su- 
periority, 104, 107 ; for sleeves, 
122 ; use of, 164. 

Dress, old day splendour of, 14; im- 
portance of, 29 ; good construc- 
tion of, 105, 108, 114; coat-like, 



230 



INDEX. 



113; for evening, 123, 124, 127; 
for school, 133 ; working, 135- 
137, 143 ; travelling, 134, 138- 
141 ; for business, 136-138 ; for 
indoor work, 143 ; Japanese, 146 ; 
for outing, 141 ; beauty of, de- 
pendent on personality, 147 ; 
decorative quality of, 149 ; char- 
acteristics of beauty in, 158-162; 
permanent style in, 161 ; its pur- 
chase, 163 ; upholstery materials 
for, 165, 166 ; black, 174 ; for 
the neck, 179, 180 ; Greek, 200- 
205, 207 ; the Empire, 208-210 ; 
early English, 211-213. See 
Clothing. 

Dress artists, demand and supply, 
219-221. 

Dresses, let out, 95, 96, 101. 

Dresses, night, 119, 120. 

Dresses, trained, 214. 215. 

Dress-makers, unskilled, 167. 

Dress-materials, 163-167. 

Duty of women, 28. 

Elastic coat, 153, 154. 
Embroidery, 190, 191. 
Equestriennes, 96. 

Fashion, origin of, 26 ; without 
authority, 26 ; fashion and physi- 
cal culture, 67 ; ignores individ- 
uality, 157 ; fashion and courage, 
156, 157. 

Fashion-plates, 26, 161. 

Feet, proportion for, 74, 184, 185. 

Fichu, Marie Antoinette, 112. 

" Figgers," 72. 

Fold radiation, 154. 

Form, bad choice of, 18 ; gradation 
0I > 73 j with horizontal lines, 129. 

Freedom, for soul expression, 66 ; 
for emotions, 69 ; for feet, 74 ; of 
clothing below breast-bone, 99. 

Gloves, 183. 

Gown, Mother Hubbard, 108; 
morning, 107, 108. 



Grace of motion, how possible, 27 ; 
in actresses, 69. 

Hair-dressing, 176, 177. 
Hands, proportion of, "jt,. 
Hats, 157, 177-179. 
Head-gear, 177-179; faces in, 178. 

Individuality, 156. 

Jackets, 139, 181. 

Japanese, 171. 

Jewel collections, 190. 

Jewellery, cheap and choice, 187-190. 

Life, its autumn, 194 ; its winter, 

195. 
Limbs, too long, 106 ; too short, 106. 

Matrons, colour choice for, 163, 

164. 
Maturity, 193. 
Meats and cereals, 87. 
Modern sculpture, 58. 
Morning gown, 107, 108. 
Muscle-training to beauty, 78, 85 ; 

to expression, 79, 96. 

Neck-line of corsage, 211. 
Nervous energy conserved, 84. 
New departure, a, 29. 
Night-dresses. 119. 

Obesity, 80; food, 91. 

Ornament, lasting, 186-189 ; finest 

effects of, 186, 187. 
Ornaments, 187-190. 

Petticoats, but one, 98 ; divided, 

98. 
Physical culture, 80, 83. 
Pictorial effects of personality, 42, 

50. 
Proportion of hands, 73 ; of feet, 74, 

184, 185. 
Proportions, queenly, 72. 



INDEX. 



231 



Real elegance, 157, 158. 
Respiration, 86 ; among savages, 99. 
Rimmer, quoted, 65. 

Sculpture, modern, 58 ; mature 

womanhood in, 192. 
Shoes, for children, 161, 184 ; 

Greek, 185 ; early English, 185. 
Short skirts, 141. 
Shoulder-puffs, 106. 
Simplicity, 158. 
Skin, colouring of, 75 86, 88. 
Skirts, 98, 141. 
Sleeves, 116, 119, 150-155 ; bishop, 

152; Valois, 153; peasant, 153; 

Venetian, 153; slashed, 155. 
Small heads, y^- 
Standards of form, slow to change, 

30 ; objections to new, 30, 33 , 34. 
Street garments. See Clothing; 

Dress. 

Taste, good and bad, 53 ; cultiva- 
tion of, 217-219, 221. 



Trimming, irregular edge, 116. 

Types of manly proportion, 61 ; of 
womanly proportion, 61-67 ; Rim- 
mer' s, 65. 

Underwear, knitted, 93, 224 ; 
colour of, 95, 97. 

Velvet, 164. 
Venus di Milo, 57. 

Waist-line, none, 26. 

Waists, 95, no, in. 

Women, stout, 113, 121, 124, 127, 
145, 174 ; thin, 128, 131, 132, 134, 
143, 144 ; short and thin, 121, 
124, 127, 128 ; slender, 131 ; tall, 
134; delicate, 132 ; type of pro- 
portion for, 61-67 ; round-should- 
ered, 112. 

Wrappers, 120. 

Youth, 193. 



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